V 


*     MAR  19  1909 


BV  110 

.F64  1906 

^x 

Floody, 

Robert  John^ 

b. 

1859. 

Scientific  basis 

of 

Sabbath 

and  Sunday 

SCIENTIFIC  BASIS  OF 
SABBATH  AND  SUNDAY 


A  NEW  INVESTIGATION  AFTER  THE  MANNER 

AND   METHODS   OF    MODERN    SCIENCE, 

REVEALING  THE  TRUE  ORIGIN 

AND    EVOLUTION    OF 

THE     JEWISH     SABBATH 
AND     THE     LORD'S     DAY 

FOR  THE  PURPOSE  OF  ASCERTAINING  THEIR  REAL 
SlGNinCANCE  AND  PROPER  OBSERVANCE 

'V* 


[*     MAR  19  190: 


BV  THE          V                            ^^'HETM  ^FtflV 

REV.   ROBERT  JOHN   FLOODY          ^-!""«L  vCW.^ 

Master  of  Science  {Albiofi  Coll.),  Bachelor  of  Sacred  Theology 

{Boston  Univ.),  Member  of  the  A  merican  Association  \ 

for  the  Advancement  of  Science  \ 

With  Introduction  by  ; 

G.  STANLEY   HALL,  LL.D.,  Pres.  Clark  University  \ 

SECOND    AXD   REVISED   EDITIOX  .] 


BOSTON 

HERBERT    B.   TURNER    &    CO, 
1906 


Copyright,  1901.  by  Robert  J.  Floody. 
Copyright,  1906.  by  Robert  J.  Floody. 


DEDICATED 

^0  as^  mite. 


INTRODUCTION. 


One  of  the  most  characteristic  tendencies  of 
religious  thought  in  our  age  is  to  regard  the  great 
facts,  institutions,  and  records  of  the  church  from 
a  psychological  point  of  view.  The  subject  of 
conversion  has  already  been  thus  treated  in  a  way 
which  is  not  only  sympathetic,  but  confirmatory,  so 
that  it  is  now  regarded  not  only  as  a  divine,  but 
also,  in  a  sense,  a  natural  process  in  every  soul 
that  achieves  complete  spiritual  maturity.  It 
has  become  a  scientific  without  becoming  in  any 
less  degree  a  religious  theme.  Many  other  cardi- 
nal topics  are  now  beginning  to  be  treated  in  the 
same  way.  Among  these  are  faith,  miracles,  the 
unique  experiences  of  great  leaders  from  Paul  and 
Augustine  down  to  Bunyan  and  Fox:  miracles, 
especially  those  of  healing  diseases  of  nervous 
origin  or  complications;  worship,  the  methods  of 
mission  work,  the  ideas  of  sacrifice  and  renuncia- 
tion generally;  and  anthropology  has  cast  a  great 
new  light  upon  many  problems  involved  in  the 
New  and  particularly  in  the  Old  Testament. 


vi  Introduction, 

It  is  in  this  spirit  and  method  that  the  Sabbath 
is  here  studied,  and  so  far  as  I  know  for  the  first 
time  by  an  English  writer.  There  is  a  sense  in 
which  it  is  a  psychological  institution  which  modern 
hygiene  of  the  soul  and  body  would  have  to  invent 
if  religion  had  not  already  provided  it.  Its 
history  goes  back  to  the  most  venerable  con- 
ceptions of  astronomical  processes  and  it  has  had 
many  interpretations  within  Christianity,  and  there 
were  many  prelusions  of  it  before.  It  has  some 
connection  with  ancient  moon  worship,  with  the 
metaphysics  of  the  number  seven,  and  its  right 
observance  has  always  been  one  of  the  touchstones 
of  the  individual  and  social  conscience.  Our 
problem  is  to  so  define  it  and  so  regulate  its 
observations  that  it  shall  be  made  ever  more  and 
more  tributary  to  the  development  of  the  very 
highest  things  of  the  soul. 

The  author's  treatment  of  the  subject  is  both 
scholarly  and  practical.  I  have  read  it  through 
with  delight  and  think  it  a  hopeful  sign  that 
another  edition  is  called  for  and  that  it  is  to  be  a 
revised  one. 

G.  Stanley  Halu 

Clark  University,  July  30,  1906. 


PREFACE. 


This  work  had  its  origin  in  an  article  entitled 
**The  Seventh  Day  of  Heathens,  Hebrews,  and 
Christians, ' '  prepared  for  the  New  Testament  His- 
tory Seminar  of  Boston  University  School  of  The- 
ology in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1895-6.  The 
demands  made  upon  the  writer  for  the  publication 
of  his  views,  by  many  who  had  heard  or  read  the 
manuscript,  led  to  a  further  development  of  the 
essay  until  it  finally  reached  its  present  form. 
The  book  is  mainly  designed  for  the  busy  man  in 
the  shop,  office,  or  study,  who  has  neither  the  time 
nor  the  disposition  to  enter  upon  an  exhaustive 
study  of  the  subject,  so  that  he  may  know  the 
fundamental  conception  and  nature  of  the  Seventh 
Day  and  the  duties  encumbent  upon  him  for  its 
faithful  observance. 

It  will  not  be  denied  that  the  times  call  loudly 
for  light  on  the  Sunday  question.  The  subject  is, 
with  the  vast  majority,  evidently  a  perplexing  one. 
One  claims  that  the  true  Sabbath  is  on  Saturday; 


viii  Preface. 

another  says  it  falls  on  Sunday,  and  still  a  third 
says  the  Lord's  Day  is  not  a  Sabbath  at  all.  At 
the  same  time  scarcely  any  two  agree  as  to  what 
is  proper  and  what  is  improper  on  that  day. 
Clergymen  have  positively  declined  to  preach  on 
the  theme,  simply  because  of  the  lack  of  reliable 
data  upon  which  to  establish  theories  that  will 
stand  the  test  of  truth.  No  trustworthy  criterion 
of  the  right  and  wrong  uses  of  Sunday  has  been 
presented,  and  consequently  our  battle  with  Sun- 
day desecration  has  been  a  gradual  retreat.  A 
good  case  in  point  is  that  of  a  certain  New  Eng- 
land city.  A  few  years  ago  an  effort  was  made  to 
open  the  Public  Library  on  Sunday,  but  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  generally  speaking,  opposed  it  strong- 
ly. Finally  the  authorities  of  the  Library  won  the 
battle  and  its  doors  were  thrown  open  to  the 
public.  Now  almost  every  one  concedes  the  pro- 
priety of  the  action.  Next  a  proposition  looking 
towards  the  Sunday  opening  of  the  Art  Museum 
encountered  a  similar  opposition,  and  again  the 
judgment  of  many  influential  citizens  prevailed 
and  the  Museum  was  opened  to  visitors  on  the 
Lord's  Day.  Later  on  the  city  authorities  pro- 
posed to  furnish  music  in  the  public  park  to  the 
people  who  gathered  there  on  Sunday  afternoons 
during  the   summer  months.     This   also   was   the 


Preface.  ix 

signal  for  battle,  and  many  well  intentioned  people 
opposed  and  denounced  the  project,  but  the  oppo- 
sition was  overcome,  and  now  the  sweet  strains  of 
music  cheer  and  inspire  ten  thousand  weary  toilers 
who  for  a  whole  week  have  been  shut  up  to  the 
tasks  of  home  and  shop. 

The  opposition  of  the  Church  to  these  move- 
ments was  found  to  be  a  mistaken  opposition,  due 
to  the  lack  of  a  scientific  standard  by  which  to 
determine  the  rightness  or  wrongness  of  Sunday 
conduct.  Thus  on  account  of  ignorance  concern- 
ing the  purpose,  nature,  and  duties  of  the  day, 
the  Church  has  been  defeated  in  its  effort  to  pro- 
tect the  day  of  the  Lord,  and  has  lost  much  of  its 
influence  on  the  community  in  this  respect.  As 
a  result  Sunday  desecration  has  made  such  inroads 
that  in  many  places  little  or  no  regard  is  shown 
for  the  sacred  day  for  the  followers  of  Christ. 

Books  and  pamphlets  have  been  published  on 
the  subject,  but  almost  invariably  they  have  been 
written  from  the  standpoint  of  some  sect  or  creed 
rather  than  from  the  standpoint  of  unprejudiced 
study.  Imperfect  and  erroneous  views  have  been 
the  natural  result.  All  investigations  must,  in 
these  days,  be  conducted  on  scientific  principles. 
In  the  field  of  science  there  is  neither  Catholic  nor 
Protestant  astronomy,  but  simply  scientific  astron- 


X  Preface, 

omy  which  is  based  on  clearly  proven  truths.  In 
religious  matters  the  same  principles  should  pre- 
vail, and  nothing  but  verified  facts  and  well  estab- 
lished truths  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  the 
determination  of  conclusions. 

The  aim  of  the  author  has  been  simply  to  arrive 
at  the  truth.  All  preconceived  opinions  have,  as 
much  as  possible,  been  laid  aside,  and  facts  have 
been  sought  after  with  the  determination  to  follow 
where  the  truth  led.  The  scientific  method  is  the 
only  one  that  will  give  satisfactory  and  permanent 
results  and  afford  a  sure  footing  on  the  founda- 
tion of  the  truth.  This  method  (1)  carefully  as- 
certains the  facts  in  a  given  realm  of  investigation 
and  the  order  of  their  succession,  (2)  finds  out  the 
causes  and  the  laws  according  to  which  they 
operate,  (3)  connects  and  correlates  these  facts, 
causes,  and  laws,  with  other  facts,  causes,  and  laws, 
thus  showing  their  place  in  the  great  system  of 
truth.  A  broader  conception  of  this  method  of 
study  would  include  (1)  observation,  (2)  generali- 
zation, (3)  inference,  (4)  verification. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  all  Biblical  quotations 
are  taken  from  the  Revised  Version,  as  that  not 
only  embodies  a  riper  scholarship,  but  also  a  more 
perfect  conformity  to  the  ideas  expressed  by  the 
authors  in  the  original  tongues. 


Preface.  xi 

Should  the  reader's  opinion  differ,  at  first,  from 
those  contained  in  this  work,  all  that  is  desired  is 
a  further  investigation  and  a  more  thorough  search 
for  the  truth.  If  new  light  or  truth  contrary  to 
the  thoughts  expressed  in  these  pages  should 
result,  it  will  be  welcomed  by  no  one  more  gladly 
than  by  the  author  of  this  book,  simply  because  it 
is  the  truth.  We  are  building  up  the  great  temple 
of  truth,  which  temple  is  of  God. 

R.  J.  Floody. 

Boston,  Mass.,  September,  1901. 


Preface  to  the  Second  Edition, 


The  present  edition  has  been  thoroughly  revised 
and  enlarged  with  an  introduction  by  Dr.  G.  Stan- 
ley Hall,  President  of  Clark  University.  A  new 
chapter  entitled,  ''Sunday  and  the  Child,"  has 
been  added,  besides  considerable  matter  elsewhere. 
The  errors  have  been  corrected  and  some  modifying 
words  inserted. 

The  thoughts  contained  in  the  pages  of  this  book 
differ  in  many  respects  from  the  popular  concep- 
tions of  the  Rest  Day,  but  the  criticisms  of  modern 
scholars  and  the  contributions  of  new  light  have 
suggested  no  important  change  in  the  ideas  pre- 
sented in  the  work. 

I  wish  to  take  this  opportunity  to  express  my 
gratitude  to  many  friends  for  their  valuable  assist- 
ance, especially  Prof.  C.  W.  Rishell,  Assistant  Dean 
of  the  School  of  Theology,  Boston  University,  whose 
comprehensive  knowledge  on  religious  institutions 
has  given  me  many  helpful  hints. 

R.  J.  Floodt. 

Worcester,  Mass.,  'July  30,  1906. 


COH-TEJl^TS. 


PART   I. 

THE  SEVENTH  DAY  OF   THE  HEATHENS. 

CHAPTER   I.  i-^GE 

Traces    of     Sabbatic     Observance     among     Pagan 

Peoples     3 

CHAPTER   n. 
The    Origin    of    the    Week   and    Holy   Day   among 

Primitive  Peoples 13 

CHAPTER   m. 

Peoples  Possessing  a  Sabbath  Derived  from  Moon 

Worship 26 

CHAPTER   IV. 
Nature  and  Development  of  the  Heathen  Sabbath,      40 


PART   11. 

THE  SEVENTH  BAY  OF  THE  HEBREWS. 

CHAPTER   I. 
Relation  of  the  Hebrews  to  Neighboring  Tribes  .       49 

XV 


xvi  Contents, 

CHAPTER   II.  pAGB 

Development  of  the  Seventh  Day  of  the  Hebrews,      57 

CHAPTER   III. 
The  Sabbath  in  the  Creation  Story 74 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Transition   from    the   Lunar   Seventh    Day   to   the 

Regular  Seventh  Day 87 

CHAPTER   V. 
Nature  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath Ill 

CHAPTER   VI. 
Duration  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath 120 


PART   III.  \ 

J 

THE  SEVENTH  BAY  OF   THE   CHRISTIANS. 

CHAPTER   I.  ' 

References  to  the  Lord's  Day  in  the  New  Testament,  125         ] 

\ 
CHAPTER   II.  I 

Testimony  of  Ante-nicene  Fathers  and  Writers     .     134 

I 
CHAPTER   III.  j 

Relation  of  the  Lord's  Day  to  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  143         | 

CHAPTER   IV.  1 

Relation  of  Christ  to  the  Sabbath  of  the  Jews    .     155         j 

i 
CHAPTER   V.  ' 

The  Jewish  Sabbath  Abolished 167 


Contents.  xvii 

CHAPTER  VI.  PAGE 

The  Commandments  that  are  Binding  on  Christians,       189  "f* 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The    Moral    Significance    of    the    Laws    of    the 

Decalogues 198 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Seventh-Part-of-Time  Theory  Examined    .     .      215 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Nature  of  the  Lord's  Day 221 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Authority  of  the  Lord's  Day 235 

CHAPTER  XL 
Historical  Development  of  the  Lord's  Day       .     ,      245 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Test  of  Sunday  Propriety 273 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  Application  of  the  Test 277 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Right  of  the  State  to  make  Sunday  Laws    .     .     .      309 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Appeal  for  Concerted  Action 317 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Sunday  and  the  Child 335 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Thb  Ideal  Lord's  Day 340 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Summary  and  Conclusion 344 


PAET  I. 
TSE  SEVENTH  DAY  OF  THE  HEATHENS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

TEACES   OF   SABBATIC    OBSERVANCE    AMONG 
PAGAN   PEOPLES. 

A  CAKEFUL  study  of  the  religious  life  of  primi- 
tive peoples  reveals  the  remarkable  fact  of  the 
widespread  observance  of  a  weekly  holy  day. 
Nations  widely  separated  by  space  and  time  have 
been  the  fortunate  custodians  of  this  institution. 
Races  standing  high  in  civilization,  as  well  as 
those  low  in  the  stage  of  human  progress,  are 
alike  sharers  in  the  benefits  of  this  sacred  day. 
No  continent,  whether  it  be  in  ancient  or  modern 
times,  has  been  without  a  nation  or  tribe  having  a 
weekly  rest  in  honor  of  gods  or  God.  As  more 
light  is  obtained  regarding  the  early  habits  of  the 
various  divisions  of  mankind,  the  more  widely 
prevalent  is  found  the  sacred  Seventh  Day. 

Recent  discoveries  in  Oriental  lands  have 
greatly  added  to  the  treasures  of  knowledge  on 
this  interesting  subject,  and  have  brought  from 
beneath  the  dust  of  time  long-forgotten  cities, 
with  evidences  of  their  customs,  habits  and  reli- 


4       Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday, 

gious  conceptions.  The  most  important  of  these 
is  the  great  find  in  1869  on  the  site  of  Nineveh, 
in  which  were  exhumed  thirty  thousand  tablets, 
collected  and  deposited  there  seven  centuries  before 
Christ  by  Assur-bani-pal.  The  cuneiform,  or 
wedge-shaped  inscriptions,  on  the  tablets  in  this 
wonderful  library,  bear  witness  of  the  existence 
of  a  Sabbath  handed  down  from  still  earlier  times. 
In  relation  to  this  discovery.  Professor  Sayce  says: 
**The  chief  interest  attaching  to  it  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  it  bears  evidence  to  the  existence 
of  a  seventh-day  Sabbath,  on  which  certain 
works  were  forbidden  to  be  done,  among  the 
Babylonians  and  the  Assyrians."^  Also  "The 
seventh,  fourteenth,  nineteenth,  twenty-first,  and 
twenty-eighth  days  of  the  month  were  days  of 
rest."  2  The  following  is  the  full  text  of  the  first 
Sabbath  in  the  Elul  calendar :  *'  The  7th  day  is  a 
fast  day,  (dedicated)  to  Merodach  and  Zarpanit. 
A  lucky  day.  A  day  of  rest  (Sabbath).  The 
shepherd  of  mighty  nations  must  not  eat  flesh 
cooked  at  the  fire  (or)  in  the  smoke.  His  clothes 
he  must  not  change.  White  garments  he  must 
not  put  on.  He  must  not  offer  sacrifice.  The 
king   must   not   drive    a   chariot.     He   must  not 

1  Records  of  the  Past,  Vol.  vii.  p.  157. 
a  Ibid,  Vol.  i.  p.  164. 


Sabbatic  Observance  among  Pagan  Peoples,     5 

issue  royal  decrees.  In  a  secret  place  the  augur 
must  not  mutter.  Medicine  for  the  sickness  of 
his  body  he  must  not  apply.  For  making  a  curse 
it  is  not  fit.  During  the  night  the  king  makes 
his  free-will  offering  before  Merodach  and  Istar. 
He  offers  sacrifice.  The  lifting  up  of  his  hand 
finds  favor  with  the  god."  ^  The  wording  of 
the  other  Sabbaths  in  this  intercalary  month  is 
the  same  as  the  above  with  the  exception  of  the 
gods  mentioned.  It  appears  singular  that  a  Sab- 
bath should  fall  on  the  nineteenth  day  of  the 
month,  but  this  is  accounted  for  by  Boscawen, 
who  states  that  it  is  the  seventh  week  from  the 
beginning  of  the  preceding  month,  making  a  Sab- 
batic week.2 

Among  the  "  Creation  Records  "  on  the  fifth 
tablet,  as  translated  by  Talbot,  a  distinguished 
Assyriologist,  is  the  text  : 

"  On  the  seventh  day  he  appointed  a  holy  day, 
And  to  cease  from  all  business  he  commanded.  "3 

Not  only  had  the  people  of  Babylonia  a  Seventl 
Day  rest,  but  there  are  evidences  of  a  Sabbati 
week,  a  Sabbatic  month,  and  a  Sabbatic  year.*   / 

1  Hibbard  Lectures  by  Sayce,  p.  71. 

2  Bible  and  Monuments,  p.  68. 
8  Records  of  the  Past,  Vol.  ix.,  p.  118. 
*  Bible  and  Monuments,  p.  69. 


6       Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

From  the  many  Accadian  words,  expressions, 
and  technical  terms  employed  in  the  inscriptions 
of  the  Nineveh  Library,  scholars  have  definitely 
declared  that  these  writings  are  of  Accadian 
origin,  and  that  the  science  and  theology  of  the 
Accadians  were  borrowed  by  the  Babylonians  and 
from  them  in  turn  by  the  Assyrians.  This  his- 
toric people  in  the  valley  of  the  Accad  ceased 
to  exist  as  a  nation  about  B.  c.  2000,  and  the 
Sabbath  must  have  been  instituted  long  before 
this  date. 

If  we  take  Ragozin  as  an  authority,  the  Sab- 
bath was  observed  in  the  reign  of  Sargon,  who 
ruled  in  the  year  B.  c.  3800.^  Keary,  in  his 
*'  Dawn  of  History,"  has  well  said  :  "  Before  com- 
merce, or  writing,  or  law,  had  advanced  beyond 
their  earliest  beginnings,  religious  rites  and  funeral 
rites  had  no  doubt  been  established  in  every  tribe, 
and  man's  thoughts  about  God  and  his  relation- 
ship to  his  creatures  had  found  some  verbal  ex- 
pressions, some  sort  of  creed,  in  which  they  could 
be  handed  down  from  father  to  son  and  form  a 
new  tie  to  bind  men  together."  ^  We  are  told  by 
Petrie,  who  is  one  of  the  most  active  investigators 
in    Biblical  Archaeology,  that   Babylonia   was  in 

1  Story  of  Chaldea,  pp.  213,  256. 

2  Dawn  of  History,  p.  109. 


Sabbatic  Observance  among  Pagan  Peoples,     7 

a  high  state  of  civilization  as  early  as  the  year 
B.  c.  6000.1  Professor  Hilprecht,  Assyriologist  and 
director  of  the  Babylonian  Expedition  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania University,  has  given  out  this  statement: 
''There  is  now  abundant  written  evidence  that 
the  Babylonian  people  existed,  and  were  civilized 
enough  to  be  able  to  write,  at  least  7000  years 
before  Christ.  "^  He  has  even  gone  farther,  and 
stated  that  in  his  judgment  the  written  records  of 
Babylonia  probably  went  back  as  far  as  8000 
before  the  Christian  Era.^  Judging  from  the 
fact  that  religious  rites  and  sacred  days 
preceded  literature,  commerce,  and  law,  we 
conclude  that  the  holy  day  must  have  been 
in  existence  at  least  7000  years  before  Christ, 
or  nearly  9000  years  from  the  present  time.  Thus 
we  have  a  primitive  Sabbath  in  Babylonia,  closely 
analogous  in  its  injunctions  to  the  Sabbath  of  the 
Hebrews  and  Rabbinical  Jews,  many  centuries 
before  the  advent  of  Moses. 

The  next  country  laying  claims  to  great  antiq- 
uity is  that  which  lies  in  the  Valley  of  the  Nile. 
This  land  of  the  Pyramids  adds  significant  testi- 
mony regarding  the  weekly  religious  day.  From 
the  Egyptian  "  Records  of  the  Past "  information 

1  Biblia,  Vol.  viii.,  p.  328.  2  i^id,  Vol.  ix.,  p.  184. 
8  Ibid,  Vol.  ix.,  p.  227. 


8       Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

is  conveyed  to  us  concerning  this  Seventh  Day. 
In  it  the  following  passage  occurs  : 

* '  O  Ra  adored  in  Aptu  (Thebes)  : 
High  crowned  in  the  house  of  the  obelisk  (Heliopolis)  : 
King  (Ani)  Lord  of  the  New  Moon  Festival : 
To  whom  the  sixth  and  seventh  days  are  sacred."  i 

Mr.  Goodwin,  the  able  translator,  says :  "  The 
above  quotation  was  discovered  in  a  hieratic  papy- 
rus belonging  to  the  nineteenth  dynasty,  and 
seems  to  be  the  contents  of  an  earlier  copy." 
Thus,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  B.  c,  in  the 
valley  of  the  Nile,  there  was  a  Seventh  Day 
Sabbath  handed  down  from  earlier  times.  The 
Egyptians  regarded  it  as  a  lucky  day,  but  unlucky 
if  any "  work  was  performed ;  so  the  priests  in- 
sisted on  its  observance.  Later  on,  it  was  called 
"  Saturn's  Unlucky  Day." 

With  reference  to  China,  the  next  in  point  of 
age  and  the  most  remote  of  the  empires  of  the 
East  from  the  cradle  of  the  race,  we  are  not  left 
in  doubt  concerning  the  prevalence  of  a  weekly 
rest-day.  The  great  age  of  the  empire,  the  won- 
derful tenacity  with  which  it  holds  to  old  customs, 
and  its  almost  complete  exemption  from  foreign 
influence,  render  the  testimony  of  this  people  of 

1  Records  of  the  Past,  Vol.  ii.,  p.  132,  old  series. 


Sabbatic  Observance  among  Pagan  Peoples,     9 

great  significance  as   to   the  independent    origin 
of  the  day. 

In  the  funereal  customs,  the  Chinese  Seventh 
Day  seems  to  have  a  holy  character ;  and  special 
exercises  of  devotion,  with  sacrifices  to  the  de- 
parted spirit  are  conscientiously  offered,  which  do 
not  occur  on  any  other  day.  In  the  Imperial 
Almanac,  published  by  the  Emperor,  the  heavens 
were  divided  into  twenty-eight  constellations,  or 
houses  of  the  moon  as  they  were  called,  and  these 
were  subdivided  into  four  groups,  containing  seven 
days  in  each  group.  The  central  day  was  marked 
with  a  peculiar  character,  meaning  ** closed,"  and 
has  been  there  from  time  immemorial.  The  days 
occupying  the  centers  of  the  groups  were  called 
Heu,  Maou,  Sing,  Fang,  and  were  marked  as  days/ 
of  rest.  These  days  occurred  every  seventh  luna^ 
day.  Some  of  these  constellations  were  mentioned 
by  Lao,  twenty-four  centuries  before  the  Christian 
Era.  The  twenty-eight  constellations  were  first 
established  by  Yao,  b.  c.  2317.1 

In  the  book  of  the  "  Diagrams,"  in  the  age  of 
Fuh-he,  who  commenced  to  reign  about  b.  c. 
2857,  the  expression,  "Seven  days  complete  a 
circle"  is  found.  From  the  contents  of  this  book, 
we  learn  that  the  Seventh  Day  was  a  lucky  day 
^  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Vol.  ii.,  art.  astronomy. 


10     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

for  the  meeting  of  friends,  when  "  benefits  were  to 
be  obtained  in  all  directions."  The  king  ordered 
on  that  day,  that  "  the  gates  of  the  great  road 
should  be  shut  and  traders  not  permitted  to  pass, 
nor  princes  to  go  to  examine  the  states."^  In 
the  annals  of  Suhusius,  the  Emperor  is  repre- 
sented as  offering  a  sacrifice  to  the  Supreme  Deity 
every  Seventh  Day.^ 

India  also  possessed  this  sacred  institution.  In 
an  article  on  Hindoo  Festivals,  published  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  this  expres- 
sion occurs  :  "  Every  seventh  lunar  day  is  consid- 
ered sacred."  The  Phoenicians,  according  to 
Porphyry,  consecrated  the  Seventh  Day  as  holy. 
The  Seventh  Day  was  observed  by  the  Greeks. 
Homer  says  that  "On  the  seventh  day  came  the 
sacred  day."  The  Elegies  of  Solon  intensely 
deify  the  Seventh  Day.  Josephus  says :  "  No 
city  of  the  Greeks  or  Barbarians  can  be  found 
which  does  not  acknowledge  the  seventh  day  rest 
from  labor."  The  Greeks  and  the  Romans,  ac- 
cording to  Aretius,  consecrated  Saturday  to  rest, 
conceiving  it  unfit  for  civil  action  and  warlike 
affairs,  but  suited  for  contemplation,  and  a  day, 
therefore,  on  which  divine   patronage  was   to  be 

1  Cath.   Presbyterian,  Vol.  v.,  p.  2C0. 

2  The  Sabbath  and  Its  Defence,  p.  19. 


Sabbatic  Observam.ce  among  Pagan  Peoples.  11 

implored  against  dangers  and  misfortunes.^  Be- 
fore Mohammed's  time,  the  Saracens  kept  their 
Sabbath  on  Friday  and  from  them  he  and  his 
followers  adopted  the  custom.  The  pagan  Slavo- 
nians observed  a  weekly  festival.  Professor 
Hadley  informs  us  that  the  Persian  religion 
abounds  in  sevens.       It  also  had  a  holy  day.^ 

All  the  leading  nations  of  antiquity  observed 
the  custom  of  keeping  a  sacred  day,  and  this  fact , 
is  not  only  characteristic  of  the  great  nations, 
but  it  may  be  seen  among  many  tribes  scattered 
throughout  the  habitable  world.  A  few  may  be 
mentioned. 

Tribes  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  in  the  terri- 
tory of  Guinea,  had  a  weekly  day  devoted  to 
religious  services.  The  Sofalese  on  the  east  coast 
of  Africa  claim  to  have  a  Seventh  Day  of  rest. 
In  Pegu,  a  province  of  the  Ganges,  the  natives 
had  a  weekly  day  on  which  they  assembled  to 
receive  instruction  from  the  priests,  who  were 
called  Tallopoise.  A  similar  custom  seems  to 
have  been  observed  in  the  provinces  of  Siam  and 
Laos,  whose  priests  bear  the  same  name  as  those 
in  Pegu. 

The  New  World,  though  completely  separated 

1  The  Sabbath,  by  Gilfillan,  p.  363. 

2  Hadley 's  Essays,  p.  329. 


12      Scientific  Basis  of  Sabhath  and  Sunday, 

from  the  East,  can  produce  evidence  of  a  Seventh 
Day  rest  similar  to  that  of  their  Oriental  neigh- 
bors. The  Peruvians  were  the  possessors  of  the 
month,  the  week,  and  the  Sabbath,  long  before 
they  came  in  contact  with  the  nations  of  Europe. 

Philo,  speaking  with  reference  to  the  Sabbath, 
says :  "  That  day  is  a  festival  not  of  one  city  or 
one  country,  but  of  all  the  earth.  " 

These  evidences  show  conclusively  that  nations 
and  tribes  scattered  over  the  world  have  observed 
the  hebdomadal  rest  at  a  very  early  age  in  the 
history  of  the  race.  Many  more  cases  could  be 
mentioned,  but  these  sufficiently  illustrate  its 
universal  scope. 


Origin  of  the    Week  and  Holy  Bay.         13 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE  ORIGIN   OF   THE   WEEK  AND   HOLY   DAY 
AMONG   PHIMITIVE   PEOPLES. 

The  prevalence  of  the  weekly  rest-day  among 
ancient  peoples  having  been  noted,  the  question  now 
is,  How  did  these  nations  have  such  unanimity 
regarding  this  religious  custom?  Formerly  the 
origin  of  the  Seventh  Day  was  supposed  to 
reach  away  beyond  the  range  of  historic  vision 
into  the  dim  and  dateless  past,  but  the  spade 
and  pick,  together  with  other  agencies,  have  in 
these  modern  days  dispelled  the  darkness,  rolled 
back  the  scroll  of  time,  and  revealed  to  us  the 
circumstances  of  its  beginning.  It  has  been 
said,  with  truth,  that  "  The  origin  of  the  Sab- 
bath must  be  sought  within  a  circle  that  used 
the  week  as  a  divisor  of  time."  ^  The  origin 
of  the  Sabbath  is  identical  with  the  origin  of 
the  week;  that  is  to  say,  what  originated  the 
week  was  also  the  causal  agent  of  the  Sabbath. 
I  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Vol.  xxi.,  p.  125. 


14     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

It  is  a  known  fact  th^^t  all  divisions  of  time 
were  primarily  made  by  the  movements  of 
heavenly  bodies.  We  must,  then,  look  for  its 
source  in  some  phenomena  of  nature,  common 
to  all,  and  of  such  an  attractive  character  as  to 
call  forth  marked  attention.  Some  suppose  that 
it  was  due  to  the  seven  planets.  It  is  true  the 
days  of  the  week  were  named  after  the  planets 
as  then  known  by  Chaldea,  but  this  is  com- 
paratively a  recent  idea.  Formerly  the  months, 
the  weeks,  and  days  of  the  week,  were  indicated 
by  numbers.  Some  time  afterwards  the  names 
of  the  seven  planets  or  planetary  gods  were 
applied  to  the  seven  days  of  the  week.  The 
Chaldean  order  of  planets  —  Saturn,  Sun,  Moon, 
Mars,  Mercury,  Jupiter  and  Venus  —  was  intro- 
duced into  Egypt  about  A.  D.  150,  but  Egypt  had 
.a  week  and  a  sacred  day  many  centuries  before 
this.  Egypt  enjoyed  this  boon  but  a  short  time 
before  it  was  carried  to  Rome.  Grecian  writers 
speak  of  a  seventh  rest  day  as  existing  forty  gen- 
erations previous  to  the  introduction  of  this 
astrological  week.  If  the  week  were  derived 
from  the  planets,  then  all  the  other  countries 
would  have  their  particular  names  and  the  same 
order ;  but  this  is  not  the  case,  for  India  com- 
menced its  week  with  the  supposed  largest  planet 


Origin  of  the  Week  and  Holy  Day.         15 

and  Egypt  commenced  hers  with  the  most  dis- 
tant planet.  So  then,  in  each  country  referred  to 
above,  the  seven-day  week  was  a  time-period  long 
recognized  before  men  thought  of  giving  names 
to  the  days. 

Others  claim  that  the  number  seven  was  a 
sacred  number  among  early  peoples;  but  this  is 
far  from  satisfactory.  From  a  little  investiga- 
tion, it  will  be  seen  that  other  numbers,  such 
as  five,  ten,  twelve,  forty,  and  seventy,  were  also 
sacred,  and  were  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
Bible  and  in  other  sacred  books  of  the  East. 
The  numbers  ten  and  twelve  figure  prominently, 
and  are  as  truly  sacred  numbers  as  the  number 
seven.  No  number  at  first  is "  abstractly  sacred. 
It  is  only  the  association  with  something  religious 
that  gives  a  number  a  sacred  import.  What 
could  be  more  sacred  to  the  Jew  than  the  num- 
ber ten,  arising  from  its  connection  with  the 
ten  commandments;  and  the  number  twelve, 
from  its  relation  to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel? 
The  latter  number  is  almost  as  frequently  used 
as  the  number  seven,  and  is  more  vitally  con- 
nected with  religion.  A  few  cases  of  the  uses 
made  of  the  number  twelve  in  the  Bible  will 
now  be  noted.  There  were  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel ;    twelve    apostles ;    twelve  precious  stones 


16     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

on  the  breastplate  of  judgment;  twelve  brazen 
oxen  upon  which  rested  the  "  sea " ;  twelve 
stones  were  taken  out  of  Jordan;  twelve  hours 
in  the  day ;  twelve  stars  in  the  crown ;  the  city 
had  twelve  gates;  twelve  angels  were  at  the 
gates  ;  the  walls  of  the  city  had  twelve  founda- 
tions ;  the  gates  had  twelve  pearls ;  the  tree  bore 
twelve  manner  of  fruits ;  twelve  lions  were  on 
each  side  of  the  throne ;  twelve  loaves  of  shew- 
bread  were  placed  on  the  table ;  there  were 
twelve  princes  of  the  Ishmaelites ;  twelve  pillars 
of  the  altar  erected  by  Moses  ;  there  were  twelve 
months ;  there  were  twelve  signs  of  the  Zodiac  ; 
there  were  twelve  stones  set  up  at  Gilgal.  In 
a  single  chapter  of  the  Old  Testament  twelve 
occurs  twenty-three  times. ^  This  list  could  be 
extended  to  greater  length,  but  the  above  refer- 
ences will  serve  to  show  its  frequent  use  in 
Biblical  times  and  its  connection  with  divine 
things. 

It  is  some  special  thing,  always  a  natural 
object,  that  gives  a  certain  number  preeminence 
over  another.  Authorities  inform  us  that  the 
number  ten  arose  from  the  use  of  ten  fingers 
and  also  ten  toes,  which  were  used  in  counting 
by  tribes  low  in  mental  development.  Twelve 
1  1  Chron.  xxv.  chap. 


Origin  of  the   Week  and  Holy  Day,        17 

was  emphasized  from  the  fact  that  there  were 
twelve  months  or  moons  in  the  year.  The 
prominence  of  four  is  due  to  the  four  directions 
or  corners  of  the  earth.  Forty  is  another  impor- 
tant number,  being  a  combination  of  four  and 
ten;  also  seventy,  being  a  combination  of  seven 
and  ten.  So  we  see  that  the  prominence  of  a 
number  is  derived  from  some  special  object  in 
nature,  and  the  number  being  attached  to  a  sacred 
thing,  obtains  the  rank  of  sacredness.  To  say 
that  every  Seventh  Day  rest  was  chosen  because 
seven  was  a  sacred  number  is  no  explanation, 
as  it  fails  to  tell  us  why  seven  was  any  more 
sacred  or  prominent  than  six. 

The  origin  of  seven  as  a  prominent  number 
is  directly  traceable  to  the  practice  of  moon 
worship.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
religion  of  the  early  tribes  was  that  of  nature 
worship.  Indeed,  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that 
the  Israelites  were  kept  from  worshipping  the 
sun,  stars,  and  the  "  queen  of  heaven  "  (moon). 
The  Sacred  Record  makes  reference  fifteen  times 
to  the  worship  of  the  moon  and  "the  hosts  of 
heaven"  unto  which  they  were  about  to  turn  or  had 
already  turned.  These  heavenly  bodies  were  the 
most  imposing  objects  to  inspire  worship,  and 
the  moon  seems  to  have  taken  the  first  place  in 


18     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabhath  and  Sunday. 

the  devotion  and  reverence  of  primitive  worship- 
pers. It  was  the  moon  that  called  forth  the 
greatest  attention.  Proctor  says,  "  It  can  scarcely 
be  questioned  that  the  science  of  astronomy  had 
its  real  origin  in  the  study  of  the  moon."^  Most 
every  tribe  in  the  early  history  of  the  race 
worshipped  the  moon.  "  In  Africa,"  says  Tyler, 
"moon  worship  is  prominent  in  an  immense 
district  where  sun  worsliip  is  unknown  or  is 
insignificant."^  Generally  speaking  wandering 
nomads  worshipped  the  moon,  but  when  they 
settled  down  to  an  agricultural  life,  they  wor- 
shipped the  sun  because  most  of  their  blessings 
were  derived  from  the  sun.  The  "  man  in  the 
moon  "  is  a  familiar  expression  the  world  over. 
This  man-like  appearance  led  the  early  races 
into  the  notion  that  it  was  a  god.  They  sup- 
posed that  it  was  living,  possessing  the  qualities 
of  men,  looking  down  upon  them,  and  taking 
note  of  all  that  they  did.  It  journeyed  from 
one  extreme  of  the  heavens  to  the  other,  changed 
its  form  and  size,  thus  giving  the  idea  of  a  living, 
acting,  moving  being.  Besides  this  it  was  a 
pleasure  to  gaze  upon  the  moon  with  its  meek, 
mild,  and   beaming   face,  while    the    sun   in   his 

1  The  Moon,  by  Proctor,  p.  1, 

2  Primitive  Culture,  Vol.  ii.,  p.  272. 


Origin  of  the  Week  and  Holy  Day.         19 

noonday  splendor   could   not   be   endured   for   a 
moment. 

Nothing  is  so  well  calculated  to  enlist  the 
worship  and  admiration  of  a  simple  and  primi- 
tive people  as  our  lunar  orb.  When  the  new 
moon  appeared  it  was  greeted  with  devotion  and 
reverence  and  fitting  ceremonies  were  sacredly 
performed  by  all.  At  the  appearance  of  the  half 
moon,  worship  was  again  offered  in  its  honor  by 
its  devoted  patrons.  As  the  full  moon,  in  its 
glory  and  sublimity,  rose  in  the  eastern  sky, 
it  was  once  more  a  call  to  worship,  and  the 
assembled  multitude  paid  their  respects  to  it  in 
a  becoming  way.  Lastly  the  half  moon,  with  its 
horns  reversed,  was  also  given  its  share  of  wor- 
ship by  its  faithful  devotees.  Here  are  four  days 
occurring  on  the  changes  of  the  moon,  when 
special  religious  worship  was  held  in  its  honor. 
If  the  time  of  each  of  the  four  phases  of  the 
moon  is  ascertained,  it  will  be  found  to  be  practi- 
cally seven  days.  Thus  the  four  quarters  of  the 
moon  originated  the  four  weeks  of  the  month. 
The  week  then  corresponds  to  a  quarter  or  phase 
of  the  moon.  As  this  week  lasts  practically  seven 
days  we  have  then  the  prominence  of  the  number 
seven.  As  the  special  worship  day  took  place  on 
the  first  day  of  the  change  of  the  moon,  it  would 


20       Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday.  \ 

practically  occur  every  seventh  day.  On  this  day 
the  savages  wholly  refrained  from  work  because 
they  thought  work  would  anger  the  moon-god.  The 
moon  then  was  instrumental  in  determining  the 
week  and  Holy  Day. 

Not  only  did  it  make  the  week  but  it  was  an 
instrument  by  which  time  was  determined.  There 
is  scarcely  an  early  tribe  that  did  not  measure 
time  by  the  moon.  This,  no  doubt,  accounts  for 
the  word  "  Ma,"  meaning  measurer,  being  applied 
to  the  moon,  —  because  it  measured  all  time. 
Sayce,  in  speaking  of  the  Babylonian  week,  says, 
that  it  ' '  was  the  space  of  time  naturally  marked 
out  by  the  phases  of  the  moon."  ^  Wilkinson 
contributes  to  our  knowledge  on  this  point  in 
these  words,  "  Weeks  were  the  approximate  of 
the  lunar  division  of  time."  ^  The  Papago  Indians 
measure  by  half  moons  and  quarter  moons.  The 
inhabitants  of  Borneo  reckon  time  by  the  phases 
of  the  moon.  It  is  surprising  how  extensively  the 
moon  entered  into  the  time  calculation  of  the 
early  races,  even  in  America.  A  quotation  from 
Lubbock  will  suffice  on  this  point.  Speaking  of 
the  Crees,  he  says  :  "  A  resident  who  knew  them 
before  they  were  in  their  present  half  civilized 

1  Fresh  Light  from  Ancient  Monuments,  p.  26. 

2  Customs  and  Maimers  of  Egypt.  Vol.  ii.,  320. 


Origin  of  the  Week  and  Holy  Day.         21 

state,  says  that  they  had  names  for  the  moons 
that  make  up  the  year,  called  whirlwind  moons, 
moons  when  the  fowls  go  south,  moons  when  the 
leaves  fall  off  the  trees,  etc.  When  a  hunter  left 
a  record  of  his  chase  he  pictured  on  a  piece  of 
birch  bark  for  the  information  of  others  who 
might  pass  that  way.  He  drew  a  picture  which 
showed  the  name  of  the  month,  and  beside  it  a 
drawing  of  the  shape  of  the  moon  at  the  time  so 
accurately,  that  an  Indian  could  tell,  from  twelve 
to  twenty-four  hours,  the  moon  and  the  day  of  the 
month  when  the  record  was  set  up."  ^ 

The  moon  in  fact  determined  the  year,  the 
month,  the  week,  and  also  the  beginning  of  the 
day.  It  may  seem  absurd  to  state  that  the  moon 
began  the  day,  but  it  is  explained  in  this  way : 
as  the  new  moon  appeared  a  little  after  sundown, 
then  the  first  day  of  the  month  would  commence 
just  at  that  hour.  Then  each  following  day  com- 
menced in  the  evening,  because  the  new  moon 
first  appeared  in  the  evening.  This  fact  accounts 
for  the  mention  of  an  evening  and  morning,  in 
Genesis,  as  constituting  a  day. 

Objection  is  made  by  many  reputable  writers 
to  the  quartering  of  the  moon,  on  the  ground  that 
the  seven-day  period  is  not  an  exact  quarter  of 
1  Early  History  of  Mankind,  p.  70. 


22     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

the  lunar  month.  With  as  much  reason  could  we 
say  that  the  lunar  month  was  not  an  aliquot  of 
the  ancient  year,  but  the  lunar  month  was  made 
a  factor  of  the  lunar  year  by  added  time  when  the 
circumstances  required  it.  The  day  is  not  an 
exact  divisor  of  the  year,  for  there  has  to  be  a  day 
intercalated  every  four  years.  All  astronomers 
know  how  difficult  it  is  to  get  exact  time.  Our 
civil  year  does  not  correspond  to  the  true  solar 
year.  Even  the  hour  at  one  time  of  the  year 
differs  slightly  from  the  hour  at  another  time  of 
the  year,  because  the  earth  travels  faster  at  some 
points  of  its  orbit  than  it  does  at  others.  The 
sidereal  clock  at  certain  times  of  the  year  differs 
widely  from  that  of  our  common  timekeeper.  For 
practical  purposes,  however,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
enter  into  such  mathematical  exactness.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  when  this  method  of  reckon- 
ing time  was  adopted  there  were  no  astronomical 
or  mathematical  instruments  in  existence  to  deter- 
mine accurate  measurements.  It  is  the  practical 
rough-and-ready  reckoning  of  untutored  savages. 
To  the  primitive  races  the  week  of  seven  days 
was  practically  the  quarter  of  the  month,  just  as 
the  month  was  practically  the  twelfth  part  of  the 
year.  The  moon  makes  a  revolution  round  the 
earth  in  about  twenty-seven  and  a  half  days ;  that 


Origin  of  the    Week  and  Holy  Day.  23 

is,  when  it  is  seen  in  conjunction  with  a  star  or  a 
group  of  stars  it  will  take  twenty-seven  and  a 
half  days  to  reach  the  same  station  again.  This 
is  called  the  sidereal  revolution.  It  requires 
twenty-nine  and  a  half  days  for  the  moon  to 
occupy  the  same  position  to  the  earth  that  it  did 
before,  which  is  called  the  synodical  revolution. 
Mention  has  been  made  of  the  Hindoos,  the 
Arabs,  and  the  Chinese,  as  having  twenty-eight 
stations  of  the  moon  representing  her  monthly 
journey.  As  the  day  commenced  with  the  night 
then  there  would  be  twenty-eight  nights  in  their 
sidereal  months.  The  inhabitants  of  Madagascar 
had  a  civil  month  of  twenty-eight  nights.  The 
Ibos  of  the  lower  Niger  had  a  month  of  twenty- 
eight  days.  The  Congoese  had  also  a  month  of 
twenty-eight  days.  Many  other  tribes  in  various 
parts  of  the  world  had  a  similar  month  of  twenty- 
eight  days  or  twenty-eight  nights.  Now,  seven  is 
just  a  quarter  of  this  number  of  days  or  nights. ' 
But  civil  time  was  not  used  at  first  by  the 
earlier  races,  for  this  required  some  advance  in 
astronomical  knowledge. 

At  first,  the  moon  was  viewed  as  she  appeared 
in  her  phases,  and  even  then,  many  times,  the 
week  of  seven  days  would  exactly  divide  the 
month.      One  consideration  must  be  kept  in  view, 


24    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

and  that  is,  as  Proctor  says,  *'  the  months  are 
longer  in  winter  than  in  summer."  In  winter 
the  earth  travels  faster,  as  it  is  nearer  the  sun, 
therefore  making  the  months  longer  sometimes 
by  about  twelve  hours.  The  moon  at  various 
times  differs  in  its  distance  from  the  earth,  to 
the  extent  of  thirty-eight  tiiousand  miles,  and 
this  would  also  affect  the  length  of  the  month. 
The  long  months  would  have  to  add  time  to 
the  four  weeks  to  keep  the  weeks  and  phases 
of  moon  identical.  Proctor  tells  of  the  Greeks 
adding  an  intercalating  day  at  the  end  of  the 
lunar  months  when  it  needed  it,  and  calling  it 
"The  old  and  the  new,"  because,  they  claimed, 
it  belonged  to  the  waning  and  reappearing  moon.^ 
If  observations  were  taken  of  the  moon  in  an  off- 
hand way,  it  would  be  found  that  the  seven-day 
week  so  beautifully  fits  in  to  the  lunar  month, 
that  no  other  could  well  be  chosen.  Suppose 
that  on  a  certain  day  the  moon  is  due  at  six 
o'clock;  seven  days  from  that  time,  being  the 
eighth  day  of  the  month,  the  half  moon  will 
appear;  and  seven  days  from  this,  being  the 
fifteenth  day  of  the  month,  the  full  moon  will 
rise  unto  view.  In  seven  days  more  we  are  brought 
to  the  twenty-second  of  the  month,  and  the 
»  The  Great  Pyramid,  by  Proctor,  pp.  219,  220. 


Origin  of  the    Week  and  Holy  Day.         25 

waning  half  presents  itself :  seven  days  from 
this  date  would  bring  us  to  the  twenty-ninth 
day  of  the  month,  where  we  would  be  likely 
to  see  another  new  moon.  The  "  Records  of  the 
Past"  incidentally  states  many  times  that  the 
new  moon  was  seen  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of 
the  month,  thus  making  a  month  of  twenty-eight 
days.  We  have  seen  that  the  seven  nights  is 
an  exact  divisor  of  the  sidereal  month,  and  seven 
days  for  practical  purposes  is  a  divisor  of  the 
synodic  month,  so  that  it  can  be  safely  said  that 
the  week  of  seven  days,  in  a  practical  way,  is 
a  quarter  of  the  lunar  month.  Thus,  the  objection 
that  the  week  was  not  a  factor  of  the  lunar  month, 
cannot  be  sustained  by  the  force  of  facts. 

In  some  places,  especially  among  American 
Indians,  seven  is  a  prominent  number  from  the 
fact  of  its  being  the  sum  of  the  cardinal  direc- 
tions including  the  centre ;  viz.,  east,  west,  north, 
south,  zenith,  nadir  and  self  or  centre.  This  idea 
is  prevalent  however  in  an  exceedingly  limited 
part  of  the  globe.  While  the  prominence  of  seven 
may  have  arisen  in  this  way  with  an  insignificant 
number  of  people,  its  prominence  with  mankind 
generally  took  its  rise  from  the  number  of  days 
constituting  a  quarter  of  the  moon. 


26     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 


CHAPTER   III. 

PEOPLES  POSSESSING  A  SABBATH  DERIVED 
FROM  MOON  WORSHIP. 

Having  seen  the  origin  of  the  Seventh  Day 
of  the  heathen,  we  shall  now  consider  those 
nations,  tribes,  and  religions  that  independently 
derived  the  holy  day  from  the  moon. 

It  was  the  moon  god  that  originated  the  Sab- 
bath of  Babylonia,  as  the  following  quotation 
from  the  Assyrian  records  shows: 

'*  The  moon  he  appointed  to  rule  the  night 
and  to  wander  through  the  night,  till  the  dawn  of  day. 
Every  month  without  fail  he  made  holy  assembly  days. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  month,  at  the  rising  of  the  night, 
it  shot  forth  its  horns  to  illuminate  the  heavens. 
On  the  seventh  day  he  appointed  a  holy  day, 
and  to  cease  from  all  business  he  commanded."  i 

Other  renderings  of  the  above  text  exist  but 
this  is  the  most  intelligible.  The  truth  of  it 
however  is  supported  by  the  following  undis- 
puted text  from  the  "  Transactions  of  the  Society 

1  Records  of  the  Past,  Vol.  ix.,  p.  118. 


A  Sahhath  Derived  from  the  Moon.         27 

of  Biblical  Archaeology,"  which  reads,  '*  The  moon 
a  rest  on  the  seventh  day,  the  fourteeeth  day, 
the  twenty-first  day,  and  the  twenty-eighth  day 
causes."^  This  is  an  older  document.  Later, 
the  holy  days  were  dedicated  to  other  gods. 
Another  tablet,  exhumed  in  Nineveh,  throws  light 
on  the  idea  of  divine  names  given  to  the  different 
phases  of  the  moon.  The  month  is  divided  into 
two  lunations,  each  containing  three  periods,^ 
with  five  days  in  a  period. 

The  same  is  true  regarding  the  origin  of  the 
Egyptian  Sabbath.  In  the  quotation  or  hymn 
addressed  to  Amen-Ra,  the  expression, 

"  King  (Ani),  Lord  of  the  New  Moon  festival : 
To  whom  the  sixth  and  seventh  days  are  sacred."  3 

leaves  us  without  a  doubt  as  to  the  origin  of  the 
seventh  sacred  day  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  A 
great  authority  shows  that  the  week  of  seven 
days  existed  in  the  earliest  times  in  Egypt,  though 
it  was  later  superseded  by  the  decade.^  Weeks 
are  mentioned  in  company  with  months  in  some 
of  the  oldest  hieroglyphics,  and,  curiously  enough, 
they  are   called  "uk,"  which  may  be  the  origin 

1  Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  Vol.  iii.,  p.  313. 

2  Ancient  Empires  of  the  East,  p.  171. 
8  Record  of  the  Past,  Vol.  ii.,  p.  132. 

*  Customs  and  Manners  of  Egypt,     Vol.  fl.,  p.  320. 


28     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday,, 

of  our  own  Anglo-Saxon  word  "  week."  As  the 
week  and  the  Sabbath  were  coeval  in  origin,  it  fol- 
lows that  the  Sabbath  must  have  been  known 
about  B.  c.  5000,  for  the  date  of  the  first  king, 
Mena,  is  put  by  such  an  eminent  authority  as 
Marie tte,  at  b.  c.  5004,  and  hieroglyphics  were  in 
vogue  at  that  remote  date. 

China  can  trace  its  Sabbath  to  the  same  natural 
cause.  The  Chinese,  like  the  old  Hindoos  and 
the  Arabs,  observed  twenty-eight  celestial  sta- 
tions, marked  off  by  the  moon  on  her  monthly 
journey,  and  indicated  by  a  star  or  a  group  of 
stars.  Each  station  represented  the  moon's  daily 
position  in  the  zodiac.^  The  zodiac  was  the 
great  heavenly  dial  plate,  while  the  moon  served 
as  the  measuring  hand,  thus  affording  a  means 
of  reckoning  time.  The  four  groups  of  celestial 
stations  mentioned  in  the  former  chapter  sug- 
gest the  four  weeks  or  phases  of  the  moon  and 
account  for  the  expression,  ' '  Seven  days  complete 
a  circle."  One  of  these  lunar  stations,  in  each 
group  of  seven,  has  a  peculiar  mark  attached  to 
it,  indicating  something  special  with  that  sta- 
tion. This  marked  station,  representing  a  day, 
no  doubt  refers  to  the  lunar  change.  This  day 
is  the  seventh  lunar  day  on  which  these  people 
rest  and  worship. 

I  What  India  can  Teach  us  pp.  149,  150. 


A  Sahhath  Derived  from  the  Moon,         29 

The  same  time  division  has  been  found  in 
India.  The  new  moon,  the  full  moon,  the  eighth, 
and  twenty-second  days  of  the  lunar  month  were 
holy  days.^  Professor  Wilson  writing  on^  Hindoo 
festivals,  tells  us  that,  '*  While  fasting  is  held  to 
be  meritorious  on  the  day  consecrated  to  Aditya 
or  Eavi  (sun),  every  seventh  lunar  day  is  also 
considered  sacred,  especially  on  the  seventh  day  of 
the  moon's  increase. "^  The  holy  days  here  reveal 
their  origin,  as  they  are  connected  with  phases  of 
the  moon.  \ 

The  Sabaeans,  who  existed  long  anterior  to 
Abraham,  had  also  a  seventh  lunar  day  of  special 
significance.  The  wise  men  or  magi  called  Sabae 
met  on  the  new  moon,  the  full  moon,  and  the 
intervening  middle  days,  for  consultation  in  state 
and  religious  matters.  These  days  were  called 
Saba  days.^  From  the  fact  of  the  common  peo- 
ple assembling  to  get  advice  from  the  Sabae,  these 
days  developed  in  a  short  time  into  festival  days. 

The  Persians  also  had  a  lunar  week  and  a 
sacred  day.  ''When  the  difference  between  the 
four  lunar  weeks  and  the  lunar  month  amounted 
to  a  day,  then  there  was  a  day  intercalated."* 

1  Kern,  Buddhismus,  cited  from  Ency.  Bri.,  art.  Sabbath. 

2  Westm.      Review,  liv.,  p.  158.        »  jbid,  Hy.,  p.  174. 
*  Antiquities  of  Israel,  by  Ewald,  p.  99, 


30     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

Here  again,  the  sacred  day  is  not  separated  from 
the  *'  orb  that  rules  the  night." 

From  a  history  of  the  Arabs  by  Crichton,  it  is 
shown  that  they  had  lunar  months  and  sub- 
divisions of  them  into  weeks.^  These  are  lunar 
weeks  corresponding  to  the  phases  of  the  moon. 
From  the  above  reference,  the  lunar  origin  of  the 
holy  day  of  this  people  cannot  be  doubted.  It  is 
the  opinion  of  some  scholars  that  the  measurement 
of  time  by  the  Arabs  was  borrowed  from  the 
people  of  India  or  China.  The  system  of  lunar 
stations  was  independently  originated  in  China 
and  India.  This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the 
Chinese  had  at  first  twenty-four  constellations, 
which  were  raised  subsequently  to  twenty-eight, 
while  in  India  they  had  at  first  twenty-seven  and 
finally  settled  on  twenty-eight.  If  these  nations, 
without  contact  with  one  another,  could  institute 
such  a  time  system,  there  are  no  reasons  why  the 
Arabians  could  not  independently  produce  the 
same.  Conclusive  evidence  has  not  come  to  hand 
that  they  copied  in  their  time  divisions. 

The  Phoenicians  reckoned  time  by  lunar  months 

and   observed   the  Seventh    Day  Sabbath   which 

seems    to    have    coincided   with   the    phases    of 

the  moon.     The    Canaanites  kept  a  seventh  day 

1  History  of  Arabia  Vol.  i.  185. 


A  Sabhath  Derived  from  the  Moon,         31 

festival  in  honor  of  their  god,  Saturn.^  These 
seven  days  were  periods  of  the  lunar  month, 
marking  off  the  phases  of  the  moon.  The  Bur- 
mese held  their  sacred  festivals  at  the  quarters  of 
the  moon.2  All  public  business  was  suspended 
and  the  people  paid  their  homage  to  Gautama  at 
the  temple,  presenting  to  the  image  rice,  fruit, 
flowers,  candles,  etc. ! 

The  Romans  had  a  day  of  the  week  especially 
devoted  to  religious  and  other  public  purposes. 
This  day  seems  to  have  come,  not  from  other 
countries,  but  independently  from  moon-worship. 
Civil  months  were  instituted  in  Rome  in  the  year 
B.C.  452 ;  previous  to  that  time  they  had  lunar 
months.  At  the  time  when  they  introduced  civil 
months,  the  Calends  were  invariably  the  first  days 
of  the  month,  and  were  so  named  because  the 
priests  had  been  accustomed  to  call  the  people  to- 
gether on  that  day  to  announce  to  them  what  days 
were  to  be  kept  sacred  during  the  month.  The 
Ides,  so  called  from  the  verb  '*  iduare,"  to  divide, 
took  place  on  the  middle  of  the  month,  and  the 
Nones  occurred  on  the  ninth  day  before  the  Ides, 
counting  inclusively.  If  the  Ides  fell  on  the  fif- 
teenth, the  Nones  would  be  on  the  seventh  day. 

1  Michaelis,  Commentary  on  the  Law  of  Moses,  art.  248. 

2  The  Sabbath,  by  Gilfillan,  p  360. 


32     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

In  March,  May,  July,  and  October,  the  Ides  fell 
on  the  fifteenth  and  the  Nones  on  the  seventh. 
Colonel  Ellis  gives  us  to  understand  that  the  sys- 
tem of  Calends,  Nones,  and  Ides,  dates  from  a 
period  when  time  was  reckoned  by  lunar  months 
and  was  really  a  system  of  half  moons  and  quarter 
moons;  the  Nones  falling  on  the  seventh-eighth 
night,  the  Ides  on  the  fourteenth-fifteenth  night, 
and  the  Calends  on  the  new  moon.^  Thus,  the 
Calends,  Nones, and  Ides  correspond  respectively 
to  the  new  moon,  the  half  moon ,  and  the  full 
moon.  It  seems  that  the  last  quarter  of  the 
moon  was  not  included.  If  this  phase  was  not 
really  observed,  at  this  very  early  time,  as  soon 
as  the  other  phases,  it  may  easily  be  accounted 
for  from  the  fact  that  the  last  phase  appears 
about  midnight,  at  a  time  when  nearly  all  are 
at  rest.  The  three  holy  days  mentioned  corre- 
sponded to  the  phases  of  the  moon.  It  is  then 
safe,  from  all  the  evidence,  to  affirm  that  without 
the  moon  these  days  would  not  have  been  called 
into  existence. 

In  reference  to  the  Greeks,  a  quotation  from 
the  writings  of  Professor  Samuel  Lee  clearly  indi- 
cates their  relation  to  this  divine  institution. 
*'The  seventh  month  and  the  seventh  day  of  the 

1  Pop.  Sc.  Mon.,  Jan.  '96 


A  Sabhath  Derived  from  the  Moon.  33 

montli/'  he  says,  ''were  held  sacred  among  the 
Greeks  as  having  been  honored  by  the  birth  of 
Apollo.  The  first,  the  seventh,  the  fourteenth  day 
of  every  month,  were  also  held  as  holy  days,  and  of 
these  the  first  and  seventh  were  dedicated 
to  Apollo.  The  twenty-fourth  as  being  the 
seventh  counting  backward  from  the  first 
of  the  next  month,  was  also  a  holy  day."^ 
Here  the  month  is  a  period  of  the  moon; 
and  the  four  holy  days  occur  about  the  new 
phases  of  the  moon.  Hesiod,  who  flourished  in  the 
eighth  century  B.C.,  writes :  "  For  these  days  are 
from  Jupiter  the  discerner ;  First  the  day  (of  the 
new  moon)  also  the  fourth,  and  the  seventh,  a 
sacred  day."  ^ 

The  Harranians  had  four  sacrificial  days  in  each 
lunar  month.^  These  days  were  of  a  religious 
nature.  Two  of  these  days  were  on  the  new  and 
full  moon.  It  is  no  unwarranted  assumption  to 
say  that  the  moon  was  primarily  the  determining 
agent  of  these  days,  in  the  sense  that  if  there  had 
been  no  moon  there  would  be  no  such  days.  The 
Siamese  have  a  lunar  month  consisting  of  twenty 

1  Samuel  Lee,  cited  by  W.  F.  Crafts,  '•  Sabbath  for  Man," 
p.  527. 

2  Works  and  Days,  by  Hesiod. 

8  Fihrist,  319-14,  cited  from  Ency.Brit.,  art  Sabbath. 


34     Scientific  Basis  of  SahhatJi  and  Sunday. 

nine  days  in  the  odd  and  thirty  days  in  the  even 
months,  and  reckon  by  half  moons  and  quarter 
moons,  and  these  quarter  moons  constitute  their 
weeks.^  Cort  further  states,  "  Like  other  idola- 
trous nations  the  moon  is  one  of  their  principal 
objects  of  superstition,  and  the  first,  eighth,  fif- 
teenth and  twenty-second  days  of  the  moon  are 
holy  days,  and  they  call  them  days  of  the  Lord."  ^ 

Speaking  with  regard  to  the  Peruvians,  Garci- 
lasso  says  :  "  They  reckoned  the  months  by  the 
moon,  they  reckoned  the  half  months  by  the  in- 
creasing and  waning  of  the  moon,  they  reckoned 
the  weeks  by  the  quarters  of  the  moon  without 
having  any  particular  name  for  the  days  of  the 
week."  ^  The  Peruvian  week  centres  around  the 
moon,  and  the  weekly  rest  day,  referred  to  in 
Chapter  I.,  must  necessarily  have  the  same  rela- 
tion to  it. 

Evidence  has  been  quite  recently  produced 
showing  that  the  early  Mound  Builders  observed 
a  worship  day  or  worshiped  the  different  phases  of 
the  moon.  This  is  the  estimate  of  Mr.  Peet,  in 
his  work  on  "  Historic  America."  Alluding  to  a 
recent  mound  discovery,  he  says:  "This  find  was 

1  Temple  and  Elephants,  by  Bock,  app.  3. 

2  History  of  Siam,  p.  194. 

«  Humboldt's  Researches,  Vol.  i.,  p.  283. 


A  Sabbath  Derived  from  the  Moon.         35  ■ 

\ 
upon  the  north  fork  of  Paint  Creek,  in  the  group  j 

of  mounds  from  which  Squier  and  Davis,  many  J 

years   ago,    took   so  many  valuable  and  curious  ! 

relics,    showing    that    the    offerings    which   were  i 

placed  upon  the  altar  were  in  reality  devoted  to  i 

the  moon  as  well  as  to  the  sun,  the  mound,  the  ! 

altar,  and  the  relics  being  combined  in  symbolizing  j 

the  different  phases  of  the  moon."  i     The  picture  j 

of  the  new  phase  of  the  moon,  with  an  altar  at-  | 

tached  to  it,  reveals,  as  clearly  as  such  could,  that  ; 

the   new  phases    of   the  moon  were  worshipped,  j 

and  this  implies  a  worship  day  which  would  con-  ' 

stitute  the  Sabbath  of  this  ancient  race. 

The  Sabbath  of  the  Buddhists  is  observed  on  HL^  Cu^jlM 
the  full  moon,  on  the  day  when  there  is  no  moon,  '^"^-^-n-i^-^ 
and  on  the  two  days  which  are  eighth  from  the  i^^^Z^ 
full  and  new  moon,  respectively .2  The  phrase,  ^^l..,_r^^->^^* 
"  when  there  is  no  moon,"  evidently  refers  to  the  ,5-v^^  A  *^ 
moon  when  it  is  in  conjunction  with  the  sun,  at  a.es--«--i— <^ 
which  time  it  cannot  be  seen  until  almost  a  day  ^^^~^^^  tf 
after.  At  a  very  early  period  they  observed  the  ,U-— ^2?) 
new  and  full  moon,  later  on  the  half  moon  was  ^^^^  "^TxZ^ 
regarded  as  worthy  of  special  reverence.  From  "^'^^jX^ 
this  evidence,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  Sab-,,r-  iX.^"^^ 
bath  of  this  great  religious  body  was  brought  ^.^ ""^*^' ^ 
about  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  moon.  \ 

1  History  of  America,  p.  242.     2  Ency.  Bri.,  Vol.  xxi.,  p.  126.  •! 


36     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday, 

A  modern  sacred  book,  called  "  Oahspe,"  has 
something  to  say  to  its  believers  on  the  subject  of 
the  Sabbath.  This  book  claims  to  have  been  given 
by  enlightened  intuitions.  The  following  quota- 
tion is  pertinent  to  our  purpose  :  "  Watch  ye  for 
the  new  moon,"  says  the  sacred  book,  "  and  glorify 
the  Great  Spirit  that  He  may  prosper  you.  It 
shall  be  a  holy  day  of  rest.  At  the  change  of  the 
second  quarter  of  the  moon,  is  the  relief  watch  of 
My  angels  who  abide  with  mortals ;  let  that  be  a 
holy  day  of  rest.  Let  My  chosen  keep  the  four 
holy  days  of  rest  during  each  moon,  for  on  these 
days  do  My  guardian  angels  change  the  watch. 
Because  of  four  quarters  to  each  moon,  so  do  I 
give  you  four  Sab-da  (Sabbaths)  which  shall  be 
days  of  worship."  ^ 

Those  who  believe  in  the  teachings  of  "  Oahspe," 
must  acknowledge  the  bearing  the  changes  of  the 
moon  have  on  the  Sab-da,  which  are  to  be  kept  holy 
because  the  moon-angels  change  watch. 

The  week  of  seven  days  is  not  an  exact  divisor 
of  the  time  intervening  between  the  two  moons. 
A  lunar  month  on  the  average  lasts  about  twenty- 
nine  and  a  half  days ;  the  quarter  of  the  lunar 
month  is  seven  days  and  nine  hours.  We  have 
cases  on  record  where  the  week  corresponds  to  a 
1  Oahspe,  p.  696,  vs.  53. 


A  Sabbath  Derived  from  the  Moon.         37 

lunation  even  to  the  hour.  This  is  the  case  with 
the  Schi  tribe,  on  the  Gold  Coast  of  Africa.  This 
method  of  exact  reckoning  would  make  the  new 
week  fall  on  a  different  hour  and  frequently  on  a 
different  day.  Suppose  the  moon  on  Monday  was 
seen  at  six  o'clock  P.  M.,  the  next  week  would  begin 
at  three  o'clock  A.  M.  on  Tuesday.  With  the 
above  mentioned  tribe,  the  first  day  of  the  week 
was  called  "  Dyo-da,"  meaning  day  of  rest  for  all 
people.  They  had  also  a  Sabbath  dedicated  to  the 
sea  god,  on  which  it  was  unlawful,  on  the  penalty 
of  death,  for  fishermen  to  fish.  They  had  another 
Sabbath  in  honor  of  the  gods  of  agriculture,  a  day 
on  which  all  who  cultivated  the  soil  should  rest. 
But  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  the  moon-god 
was  to  receive  the  homage  of  all,  for  which  pur-  \ 
pose  they  should  rest  from  all  labor.  This  ancient 
and  barbaric  tribe  offers  another  clear  illustration 
of  the  independent  origin  of  the  weeks  and  the 
Sabbath  directly  from  the  moon.  Another  tribe 
on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  called  the  Ga  tribe, 
has  likewise  a  week  of  seven  days  and  nine  hours 
each.  In  this  tribe  the  first  day  of  the  week  is 
called  "  Dsu,"  meaning  purification ;  and  because 
it  was  dedicated  to  the  moon,  Dsu  seems  to  have 
become  a  title  of  the  moon.^ 

1  Pop.  Sc.  Mon.,  Jan.  '95. 


38     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabhath  and  Sunday, 

Judging  from  the  language  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 
the  same  custom  prevailed  with  them.  The  month 
was  called  a  moon,  because  it  lasted  just  a  lunation. 
The  expressions  *' fort-night "  (fourteen  nights), 
and  sen-night "  (seven  nights),  are  periods  made 
by  the  moon,  or  expressions  indicating  half  moons 
and  quarter  moons.  The  word  "  week  "  is  from 
the  Anglo-Saxon  "  weaxan,"  to  increase,  to  wane, 
to  change.  This  can  refer  to  no  other  than  the 
phases  of  the  moon.  As  the  week  and  holy  day 
were  primarily  inseparable,  the  sacred  day  of  this 
race  of  people  must  have  had  a  connection  with 
the  moon.  The  Druids  of  ancient  Britain  had 
four  holy  days,  on  the  four  changes  of  the  moon, 
on  which  they  had  special  religious  ceremonies.  In 
Harley's  "  Moon  Lore,"  ^  reference  is  made  to  them 
in  these  words :  "  The  moon  occupied  a  high 
position  in  the  religion  of  the  Druids,  who  had 
superstitious  rites  at  the  lunar  changes,  and  who 
are  always  represented  as  having  the  crescent  in 
their  hands."  The  ancient  Hawaiians  observed 
four  taboo  periods  every  lunar  month.  These  holy 
periods  corresponded  so  nearly  with  the  moon 
changes  that  we  cannot  reasonably  doubt  that  the 
former  were  derived  from  the  latter.^ 

1  Moon  Lore,  p.  120. 

*  History  of  Hawaiian  People,  p.  50. 


A  Sabbath  Derived  from  the  Moon.         39 

The  Celtic  *'  Sab-aith  "  was  a  day  on  which  the 
priests  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  sacrifice, 
counsel,  and  religious  ceremonies.  This  holy  day 
occurred  on  the  new  moon,  the  full  moon,  and  on 
the  "  horned  moons."  ^ 

The  monks  of  Lamaism  in  Tibet  observed  four 
religious  fast  days  in  the  month  which  occurred  at 
the  four  changes  of  the  moon.^ 

The  evidences  on  the  subject  of  this  chapter  are 
drawn  from  trustworthy  writers,  many  of  whom 
were  eye  witnesses  of  what  they  wrote ;  from 
historians  whose  reputation  for  honesty  cannot  be 
impugned ;  from  languages,  papyri,  cylinders,  and 
tablets ;  from  mounds  and  monuments  that  can  be 
seen  and  read  to-day ;  from  the  most  ancient 
kingdoms  and  empires  that  have  dominated  exten- 
sive areas  of  territory,  as  well  as  obscure  tribes  in 
various  stages  of  development  scattered  throughout 
the  continents  of  the  world.  These  evidences  are 
not  lacking  in  any  particular  to  establish  the 
theory  that  the  week  and  the  holy  day  among  the 
heathen  were  first  determined  by  the  agency  of 
the  moon. 

1  Anacalypsis,  ii.-297.     West.  Review,  Vol.  liv.,  160.174 

2  Buddhism  in  Tibet,  p.  501. 


40     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

NATURE  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  HEATHEN 
SABBATH. 

The  last  chapter  furnished  us  with  unmistak- 
able cases  of  people  independently  instituting  the 
week  and  the  Sabbath  directly  from  the  moon. 
No  doubt  some  tribes  and  peoples  have  borrowed 
from  others  this  institution,  but  where  that  is 
the  case,  such  borrowing  is  easily  detected  from 
the  similarity  of  language,  identity  of  names  and 
places,  method  of  procedure,  and  order  of  results. 
Some  or  all  of  these  marks  always  accompany  the 
process  of  copying. 

As  before  suggested,  the  Sabbath  of  the  heathen 
was  not  the  seventh  day  of  the  year,  or  of  time, 
but  the  seventh  day  of  the  moon.  But  at  first  all 
the  phases  of  the  moon  were  not  recognized  in  a 
religious  sense,  neither  did  physical  rest  form 
a  leading  factor  in  the  primitive  Sabbath.  That 
was  a  later  development. 

From  data  presented  in  the  study  of  compara- 


Nature  and  Development  of  Heathen  Sahhath.     41 

tive  religions,  we  are  in  a  position  to  indicate  the 
progress  of  the  Sabbath  from  the  earliest  times. 
It  seems  fitting  at  this  stage  of  our  discussion  to 
briefly  outline  this  development  or  evolution  of 
the  lunar  Sabbath. 

As  nature  worship  was  the  first  and  lowest 
form  of  worship,  the  moon  would  naturally  be, 
and  was,  the  most  prominent  object  to  inspire  awe 
and  reverence.  Now  the  new  moon  has  always 
enlisted  greater  interest  and  attention  than  the 
other  phases.     This  is  due  to  the  fact  of  its  new-  / 

ness,  having  apparently  no  relation  to  the  previous 
moons,  and  also  its  position,  rising  in  the  west 
while  the  old  moon  rose  in  the  east.  Its  shape 
and  size  decidedly  differed  from  the  other  phases 
of  the  moon,  and  all  of  these  combined  to  produce 
a  marked  impression  upon  the  childish  mind  of 
tribes  of  primitive  days.  We  have  some  tribes, 
even  to-day,  who  have  not  advanced  beyond  the 
first  stages  in  the  growth  of  this  institution. 
The  Mendis  and  the  Bechuanas  as  well  as  the 
inhabitants  of  Madagascar  and  Senegambia,  wor- 
ship the  moon  only  when  it  is  new. 

The  next  step  in  this  religious  evolution  is 
marked  by  the  veneration  not  only  of  the  new 
moon  but  the  full  moon  also.  When  the  full 
moon  rose  above  the  eastern  horizon  with  all  its 


42       Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

brilliancy,  beauty,  and  glory,  the  simple  mind  of 
the  devotees  of  the  crescent  moon  felt  the  neces- 
sity of  paying  their  devotions  to  the  moon  in  the 
full  as  well.  The  moon  in  the  new  and  the  full^ 
the  beginning  of  the  month  and  the  middle  of  the 
month,  v^ere  now  the  only  sacred  days.  The 
Javanese  and  the  Tonquinese  in  their  religious 
progress  did  not  go  further  than  this  step,  and 
loyally  adher.ed  to  the  observance  of  the  new  and 
full  moon  only.  The  Buddhists  of  India  at  a 
very  early  period  of  their  existence  offered  their 
devotions  to  the  moon  of  a  half  circle,  and  the 
round  moon,  but  later  in  their  history  all  phases 
came  in  for  a  share  of  their  religious  interest. 
The  Mexicans  worshipped  the  full  moon  only,  in 
which  respect  they  stand  alone.  This  cannot  have 
been  the  primary  idea,  for  the  moon  reached  the 
full  through  a  gradual  growth  each  night,  and 
would  not  stand  out  in  striking  contrast  with 
the  periods  immediately  preceding.  Contrasts 
always  call  out  special  attention.  The  new  moon 
is  a  perfect  contrast  with  the  old  in  shape,  size, 
and  position,  because  the  intervening  stages  rare 
dropped  out  of  sight.  It  would  then  naturally 
take  the  first  place  in  arresting  attention.  The 
full  moon  could  not  reasonably  be  worshipped 
unless  the  new  moon  was  worshipped  too,  because 


Mature  and  Development  of  Heathen  Sabbath.    43 

it  came  to  the  full  by  degrees.  In  all  probability 
both  moons  at  first  were  adored,  but  the  superior 
brightness-  of  the  full  moon  so  eclipsed  that  of  the 
new  that  the  latter  sank  into  obscurity. 

Not  many  generations  could  have  passed  away 
before  the  superstitious  and  devout  mind  of  savage 
tribes,  would  notice  that  the  half  moon  was  much 
different  from  the  new  and  the  full  moon,  and 
would  form  a  convenient  dividing  line  between 
the  two.  The  mind  would  quickly  seize  on  the 
crescent  moon,  the  round  moon,  and  the  half 
moon,  as  distinct  phases  of  the  orb  that  rules  the 
night.  Sacrifices  and  worship  were  offered  to  the 
half  moon  and  finally  the  day  became  a  sacred 
day  on  a  level  with  the  other  two  days  of  the 
month.  The  Calends,  Nones,  and  Ides  of  ancient 
Rome  seem  to  indicate  these  three  periods  of 
the  moon. 

We  have  been  considering  the  half  moon  aspect 
of  lunar  worship,  but  it  was  that  of  the  waxing 
moon.  The  waning  moon  has  a  half  too,  of  which 
we  will  now  speak.  The  waning  half  moon  came 
in  for  its  proper  share  of  attention  at  a  later 
period  than  the  other  phases  of  the  moon.  This 
phase  does  not  appear  until  about  midnight  and 
is  not  generally  seen  by  the  people.  Only  night 
watchmen   and    shepherds    would    see    it    at   all. 


44      Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

After  the  increasing  half  was  religiously  observed, 
its  -  patrons  could  not  consistently  withhold  their 
reverence  very  long  for  the  other  half.  In  this 
way  it  assumed  the  rank  of  the  other  phases. 
We  have  then  the  four  changes  of  the  moon 
specially  adored,  with  a  worship  day  set  apart 
for  each. 

The  new-phase-day  of  the  moon  was  at  first  a 
worship  day  without  reference  to  the  time  inter- 
vening between  them.  Then  a  period  of  about 
seven  days  on  the  average  was  noticed  from  one 
change  of  the  moon  to  the  other,  thus  constituting 
the  week  of  seven  days.  When  the  division  of 
seven  days  was  recognized,  the  worship  day  was 
counted  the  beginning  of  the  period  and  would 
fall  on  the  first,  eighth,  fifteenth,  and  twenty- 
second  days  of  the  month  as  in  Siam.  But  as  a 
new  phase  occurred  every  seventh  day  from  the 
beginning  of  the  month,  it  was  finally  called  the 
seventh  day  and  reckoned  as  the  closing  day  of 
the  week.  Then  the  holy  day  would  fall  on 
the  seventh,  fourteenth,  twenty-first,  and  twenty- 
eighth  days  of  the  month,  as  in  Babylonia. 

At  first  the  lunar  day  cannot  be  regarded  as 
anything  more  than  a  day  of  sacrifice  to  the  lunar 
god.  The  Harranians  did  not  progress  beyond 
this  primitiye  stage  of  religious  life.     Their  holy 


Nature  and  Development  of  Heathen  Sabbath.    45  '\ 

i 

day  was  merely  a  sacrificial  day  with  little  or  no  I 

requirements  beyond  that  of  presenting  sacrifices  i 

to    their    god.     The    unused   sacrifices   naturally  : 

prepared  the  way  for  a  feast  which  was  at  that  i 

time  a  meal  with  the  god.     The  Burmese  feasts  ] 

represent  this  second  stage  of  development.  The 
feast  was  the  prominent  feature  in  the  heathen 
holy  day.  The  next  stage  is  that  of  rest  from  r^^^^y^^^jf^  ^ 
work.  They  rested  not  for  the  sake  of  supplying  '^'  '  '-^  ^^^ 
the  needs  of  the  body,  but  for  fear  of  angering  the 
moon-god.  So  much  attention  was  given  to  the 
feast  that  it  finally  was  regarded  as  sacred  to, 
or  belonging  to,  the  moon-god,  and  ordinary  work 
was  considered  a  slight  or  disrespect  to  their 
deity,  which  would  arouse  his  anger.  The  day 
came  to  be  called  an  unlucky  day,  because  bad 
luck,  due  to  the  vengeance  of  the  god,  would  fol-  • 

low  any  work  performed  on  the  day  sacred  to  the  j 

moon-god.  | 

The  methods  of  reckoning  time  by  the  ancients  \ 

were  very  crude  and  inconvenient,  and  could  not  j 

continue   long  while   they  were   on   the    path  of  j 

progress.     A  movement  was  therefore  begun  to-  j 

wards  the  civil  year,  civil  month,  civil  week,  and  { 

civil    day.       Arbitrary    and    civil    methods    were 
adopted  to  facilitate  the  reckoning  of  true  time.  \ 

Lunar    months    were    changed    to    civil    months.  ! 


46     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

Lunar  weeks  gave  way  to  civil  weeks,  regardless 
of  the  phases  of  the  moon.  The  difficulty  of 
getting  a  fixed  number  of  days  in  the  week,  to 
fit  into  the  lunar  month  led  to  various  devices. 
Some  divided  the  month  into  three  weeks  of  ten 
days  each,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Greeks  and 
Egyptians  in  a  certain  period  of  their  national 
life.  The  Javanese  had  six  weeks  of  five  days 
each.  The  Congoese  had  seven  weeks  of  four 
days  each.  The  Yorubas  had  five  weeks  of  five 
days  and  one  week  of  four  and  a  half  days.  All 
of  these  civil  methods  make  the  month  consist  of 
from  twenty-eight  to  thirty  days.  Previous  to  this 
they  had  lunar  months,  and  the  civil  month  is 
only  a  step  in  the  line  of  progress.  A  number  of 
cases  are  on  record  where  the  civil  month  is  made 
to  correspond  to  the  synodical  revolution  of  the 
moon.  They  do  it  by  putting  twenty-nine  days 
in  the  odd  months  and  thirty  days  in  the  even 
months.  As  there  are  about  twenty-nine  and  a 
half  days  in  each  month  or  moon,  this  method 
would  keep  the  months  parallel  with  the  moons. 
The  Babylonians,  ancient  Romans,  Greeks,  Sia- 
mese, Peruvians,  and  others  used  this  method. 


PAET  II. 

THE    SEVENTH    DAY    OF    THE    HEBREWS. 


47 


CHAPTER   I. 

RELATION    OF   THE    HEBREWS    TO   NEIGHBORING 
TRIBES. 

Having  noted  the  origin  of  the  Sabbath  among 
ancient  peoples,  we  are  now  led  to  inquire  where 
the  Hebrews  got  their  Sabbath.  The  Sacred 
Record  tells  us  that  the  Sabbath  commandment 
was  given  to  the  Hebrews  by  God  through  Moses, 
but  this  does  not  imply  that  it  was  the  first  time 
the  Sabbatic  idea  entered  the  mind  of  man.  It  is 
easily  conceivable  how  men  of  God  might  be 
divinely  guided  to  establish  institutions,  for  the 
advancement  of  his  kingdom,  which  had  been  in 
existence  long  before.  It  can  truly  be  said  that 
God  gave  institutions  and  customs  to  the  He- 
brews that  were  long  in  vogue  among  surround- 
ing peoples.  So  the  fact  that  God  gave  to 
Moses  a  Sabbath  does  not  intimate  its  primal 
origin  then  and  there.  The  heathen  Sabbath 
was  observed  centuries  before  the  Hebrews  had 
a   beginning.      Indeed,    the   inspired   word   leads 

49 


50     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

to  that  conclusion;  for,  before  any  Sinaitic  com- 
mand was  given,  the  Hebrews  were  commanded 
to  gather  a  double  portion  of  manna  on  the 
sixth  day,  as  the  seventh  was  the  Sabbath  on 
which  they  must  restJ  This  clearly  reveals  to 
us  the  observance  of  a  Sabbath  among  the  chosen 
people  before  any  divine  commandment  was  given 
to  them. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  founder  of 
this  religion,  and  the  spiritual  father  of  the 
Hebrews,  came  from  a  coimtry  where  this  sacred 
day  was  highly  revered.  The  fact  is,  that  the 
birthplace  of  the  Israelites,  the  City  of  Ur,  had 
a  great  temple  dedicated  to  Sin,  the  moon-god, 
and  was  a  great  centre  of  moon-worship.  When 
Abraham  entered  the  bounds  of  Canaan,  the 
tribes  of  this  land  were  already  in  possession  of 
a  Sabbath.  When  the  Israelites  sojourned  in 
Egypt,  they  found  a  Sabbath  there.  All  the 
people  with  whom  they  came  in  contact  were 
Sabbath-keepers,  or  had  a  holy  day. 

The  fruits  of  research  by  Egyptologists  and  As- 
syriologists  have  shown  us  that  the  Hebrews  were 
copyists  and  imitators  in  language,  customs,  and 
in  many  religious  practices  and  beliefs.  "There 
was  an  outer  and  inner  court,"  writes  a  scholarly 
1  Ex.  xvi.  22,  23. 


Relation  of  Hebrews  to  Neighboring  Tribes.    51 

authority  referring  to  the  Assyro-Babylonian  tem- 
ple, ''and  a  shrine  to  which  the  priests  alone 
had  access.  In  this  was  an  altar  approached  by 
steps,  as  well  as  an  ark  or  coffer,  containing  two 
inscribed  tablets  of  stone,  such  as  were  discovered 
by  Mr.  Rassam  in  the  temple  of  Balawat."^  The 
same  authority  says :  ' '  Besides  the  Sabbath  already 
spoken  of,  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  had 
various  festivals  and  feasts  on  which  certain  rites 
had  to  be  performed  and  certain  sacrifices  offered; 
they  know  of  the  'peace  offering'  and  of 
'heave  offering,'  of  the  dedication  of  the  first 
born,  and  of  sacrifices  for  sin.  The  gods  were 
carried  in  procession  in  'ships'  which,  as  we 
learn  from  sculpture,  resembled  in  form  the  Hebrew 
ark,  and  were  borne  on  men's  shoulders  by  means 
of  staves.  In  front  of  the  image  of  the  god 
stood  a  table  on  which  shewbread  was  laid,  and 
a  distinction  was  drawn  between  meal  offering 
and  animal  sacrifice.  Certain  unclean  kinds 
of  food  were  forbidden,  including  the  flesh  of 
swine  and  'creeping  things,'  and  in  the  outer 
courts  of  the  temple  were  large  lavers  called 
'seas,'  like  the  'sea'  of  Solomon's  temple,  in 
which  the  worshippers  were  required  to  cleanse 
themselves.  Many  of  these  regulations  and  rites 
^  Assyria,  its  Prmces,  Priests  and  People,  p.  74. 


52     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

came  down  from  the  Accadian  period."  ^  This 
and  other  works  tell  us  that  holy  cities,  holy 
places,  cities  of  refuge,  sin  offerings,  thank  offer- 
ings, incense,  dedication  of  the  first  born  to  gods, 
tithing,  circumcision,  priests  and  their  peculiar 
dress,  shewbread  placed  before  the  god,  the  "  sea  " 
where  ablutions  were  performed  in  the  court  of 
the  temple,  the  ark  containing  two  tablets  of 
stone,  the  mercy-seat  where  the  gods  dwelt  or 
sat,  etc.,  were  long  instituted,  and  were  white 
with  age  before  the  light  dawned  upon  the  first 
beginnings  of  the  Israelitish  nation.  The  Sacred 
Scripture  is  authority  for  asserting  that  the 
Hebrews  first  chose  kings  because  other  nations 
had  them.  They  adopted  the  time-reckoning  oi 
other  nations.  They  employed  the  calendar  of 
Canaan,  while  in  that  land,  and  commenced  the 
year  in  the  fall.  When  they  entered  Babylon  as 
captives,  they  followed  their  style  and  began  the 
year  in  the  spring.  When  under  the  Greeks 
they  measured  time  like  that  of  the  Seleucidae. 
They  even  worshipped  the  gods  of  other  peoples. 
After  the  Exodus  they  did  not  travel  far  before 
they  manufactured  the  "  golden  calf "  and  bowed 
down  to  it  in  worship.  Frequently  we  are  told 
of  the  Israelites  worshipping  the  sun,  moon,  and 
*  Fresh  Light  from  Ancient  Monuments,  p.  65. 


Relation  of  Hebrews  to  Neighboring  Tribes.    53 

stars.  In  one  instance  Jeremiah  records  that  they 
worshipped  the  "  queen  of  heaven  "  ^  (moon)  and 
poured  out  drink  unto  other  gods.  This  was 
practised  by  Israel  including  the  people,  princes, 
and  kings,  not  only  those  living  but  their  fathei-s 
also.  Ezekiel  says  concerning  the  Children  of 
Israel,  "Neither  did  they  forsake  the  idols  of 
Egypt."  According  to  this  prophet  Israel  never 
forsook  their  idols  in  Egypt,  in  the  Wilder- 
ness nor  in  the  land  of  Canaan.^  Nor  is  this  the 
only  charge,  for  the  Psalmist  echoes  a  similar 
complaint.  They  ''mingled  themselves  with  the 
nations  and  learned  their  works:  and  they  served 
their  idols;  which  became  a  snare  unto  them; 
yea.,  they  sacrificed  their  sons  and  daughters  unto 
demons,  and  shed  innocent  blood,  even  the  blood 
of  their  sons  and  of  their  daughters,  whom  they  sac- 
rificed unto  the  idols  of  Canaan.  "^  A  prophet 
chides  them  for  transgressing  the  law  of  God  and 
says,  "  Their  eyes  were  after  their  fathers'  idols." 
This  same  prophet  does  not  stop  with  that,  but 
charges  them  with  sacrificing  their  first  born  by 
fire  to  the  gods :  "  And  I  polluted  them  in  their 
own  gifts,  in  that  they  caused  to  pass  through 
the  fire,  all  that  openeth  the  womb."  *     To  such 

1  Jer.  xliv.  17.  s  Ps.  cvi.    35-38. 

2  Ez.  20  chap.  *  Ez.  xx.  26. 


54     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

an  extent  did  they  copy  after  other  people  in  the 
object  of  worship  that  every  city  had  its  own 
special  god.  "  For  according  to  the  number  of 
thy  cities  are  thy  gods,  O  Judah ;  and  according 
to  the  number  of  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  have 
ye  set  up  altars  to  the  shameful  thing,  even  altars 
to  burn  incense  unto  Baal."^  They  swore  not 
by  Jehovah,  but  by  the  gods  of  surrounding 
people. 

The  Scriptures, then, tell  us  that  they  appointed 
kings  in  imitation  of  other  nations ;  bowed  down 
to  the  gods  of  Babylon,  Canaan,  and  Egypt; 
worshipped  the  sun,  moon^  and  stars ;  sacrificed 
their  first  born  children  to  be  burned  in  the  fire 
in  honor  of  Baal ;  and  finally  swore  by  the  gods 
of  the  heathens.  All  of  this  signifies  how  deeply 
the  Israelites  were  impressed  with  the  customs 
and  habits  of  those  with  whom  they  mingled. 

The  Babylonians  not  only  had  a  seventh  day 
Sabbath,  but  a  Sabbatic  month,  and  a  Sabbatic 
year.  The  statement  is  made  in  Sayce's  new 
work,  entitled  "  Patriarchal  Palestine,"  that  the 
Hebrews  even  surrendered  their  language  and 
adopted  that  of  the  Canaanites  when  they  entered 
the  Promised  Land.  We  naturally  might  expect 
such  a  thing  from  a  tribe  of  unlettered,  roving 
1    Jer.  xi.  13. 


Relation  of  Hebrews  to  NeigJiboring  Tribes.    55 

nomads  as  they  came  among  settled  peoples,  who 
had  fixed  customs,  habits,  and  institutions. 

The  names  of  the  Jewish  months  are  Babylonian 
words  and  were  not  adopted  till  the  Captivity. 
Before  this  the  sacred  day  was  designated  by 
numerals  and  was  called  the  Seventh  Day.  The 
new  moon,  as  well  as  the  Sabbath,  was  a  special 
holy  day  with  the  Hebrews,  but  after  the  Cap- 
tivity it  lost  its  sacred  significance.  Why  was 
the  new  moon  as  sacred  as  the  Sabbath  when 
there  was  nothing  specially  Jewish  occurring  on 
the  day  to  stamp  it  with  special  reverence  ?  Be- 
cause it  was  borrowed  from  a  different  people. 

Prof.  Corn  ill's  statement  is  pertinent  here. 
He  says,  "  The  Sabbath,  which  the  ancient  Baby- 
lonians had,  and  which  was  designated  as  a  *  day 
of  recreation  for  the  heart,'  and  the  three  great 
yearly  festivals  of  the  Passover,  of  the  Weeks, 
and  of  the  Tabernacles,  are  borrowed  from  the 
Canaanites ;  while  the  holy  places  of  worship, 
Bethel,  Dan,  Gilgal,  Beersheba,  Sichem  and 
Gibeon,  Shiloh  and  Ramah,  and  others  are  all 
adopted  outright  from  the  Canaanites."^ 

These  facts,  together  with  similar  statements  of 
historians  and  students  in  Oriental  research,  lead 
us  to  the  inference  that  the  first  idea  of  a  Seventh 
1  The  Prophets  of  Israel,  p.  26. 


56     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday, 

Day  was  obtained  by  the  Hebrews  from  surround- 
ing peoples,  particularly  the  Babylonians  and 
Canaanites.  The  Sabbath  is  not  less  divine  be- 
cause a  sacred  day  was  known  before.  The 
rainbow  was  known  before  the  flood,  but  a  new 
significance  was  read  into  it  at  that  time.  So 
the  Seventh  Day  was  known  before  the  time  of 
the  Hebrews,  but  God  put  a  new  meaning  into 
it  for  them  and  made  it  the  distinctly  Jewish 
Sahhath, 


Development  of  Seventh  Day  of  Hebrews,     5T 


CHAPTER   11. 

DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE    SEVENTH   DAY   OF 
THE   HEBEEWS. 

If  we  examine  the  Old  Testament  writings, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  Jewish  sacred  Sabbath 
is  a  development  covering  a  long  period  of  time. 
It  is  fitting  at  this  time  to  trace  the  progress  of 
its  evolution  in  the  history  of  the  Jewish  nation. 
It  is  necessary  first  to  ascertain  the  nature  and 
extent  of  the  first  Sabbatic  law,  given  to  the 
Israelites,  and  also  its  date ;  but  here  we  are  met 
with  difficulties  on  every  side,  when  we  treat 
the  text  as  it  now  stands.  As  the  books  of 
the  Pentateuch  are  now  arranged,  they  are  not 
in  chronological  order;  neither  do  some  parts 
of  the  same  book  harmonize.  There  are  plainly 
two  accounts  of  creation.^  In  the  first  creation- 
story,  the  manner  of  creation  is  by  word  of 
mouth ;  in  the  second,  all  things  are  produced 
from  the  ground.  The  order  in  the  first  is,  light, 
1  Gen.   i.  1-ii.  4  a.  ;  ii.  4  6-25. 


58     Scieyitijic  Basis  of  Sabbath  ayid  Sunday. 

firmament,  land,  vegetation,  heavenly  bodies,  fish, 
fowl,    creeping    things,    beasts    of   the    field,   and 
man ;  the  order  in  the  second  is,  man,  vegetation, 
beasts  of  the  field,  fowls  of  the  air,  and  woman. 
In  the  first  story  God  is  called  "  Elohim,"  and  in 
the  second  story  he  is  called  "  Yahweh  (Jehovah) 
Elohim."      This    could    be    extended    to   greater 
length,  but  the    above  will  suffice  to  verify  our 
statements.      There   are  two  different  stories   of 
the  flood.      In  one  account  the  waters  prevailed 
forty  days  and  forty  nights ;  ^  in  the  other  account 
they  prevailed  one  hundred  and  fifty  days.^     In 
the   first  account  the  animals  went  into  the  ark 
two  by  two ;  ^  in  the  other  account  they  went  in 
seven  by  seven,  etc.*     There  are  two  decalogues, 
the  wording  of  which   is    entirely  different.     One 
decalogue  is  found  in  Exodus,  twentieth  chapter, 
with  which  we  are  all  familiar  from  our  contact 
with  it  in  the   prayer-book,  chui'ch   rituals,   etc., 
the   other  decalogue  is  found  in   Exodus,  thirty- 
fourth    chapter.      There    are    also   two   different 
accounts    of   the   dividing  of    the    Red   Sea.     In 
Exodus  xiv :   21,  the  east  wind,  blowing  all  night, 
drove    the    waters    back,  thus    making   dry   land 
appear,  so  that  the  Israelites  could  pass  through. 

1  Gen.  vii.  12 ;  viii.  6.  »  Gen.  vi.  19. 

2  Gen.  vii.  24  :  viii.  3.  *  Gen.  vii.  2. 


Development  of  Seventh  Day  of  Hebrews.     59 

In  the  next  verse  we  are  told  the  waters  were  a 
wall  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left  hand. 
These  are  some  of  the  many  things  that  lead  us 
to  infer  that  there  was  more  than  one  hand  at 
work  in  the  composition  of  the  Hexateuch,  or 
the  first  six  books  of  the  Bible. 

The  only  hypothesis  that  will  answer  these 
difficulties  satisfactorily  and  enable  us  to  lay  a 
scientific  foundation,  is  what  is  called  the  docu- 
mentary hypothesis  as  held  by  the  consensus  of 
Hebrew  exegetes.  The  advocates  of  this  theory 
hold  the  view  that  the  books  of  Moses  and  Joshua 
are  a  compilation  of  at  least  four  different  docu- 
ments, put  together  and  then  wrought  over  into 
its  present  shape  by  men  called  Redactors.  The 
new  Polychrome  Bible  shows  these  different  docu- 
ments in  different  colors  and  presents  to  the  eye 
the  records  in  their  original  form.  As  this  is 
the  most  tenable  theory  and  has  nearly  all  com- 
petent scholars  supporting  it,  we  will  use  this 
Bible  to  examine  the  testimony  of  the  law,  the 
prophets,  and  historic  writings,  for  the  rise  and 
perfection  of  the  Sabbatic  institution.  It  would 
be  entirely  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  work  to 
enter  into  an  elaborate  discussion  of  these  docu- 
ments, giving  all  the  reasons  for  such  a  theory, 
showing  how  their  age  was  determined,  the  num- 


60     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

ber  of  documents,  etc.  For  such  information, 
besides  the  Polychrome  Bible,  the  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  works  like  Washington  Gladden's  "  Who 
wrote  the  Bible?"  B.  W.  Bacon's  "Genesis  of 
Genesis,"  C.  A.  Briggs's  "  Higher  Criticism  of  the 
Hexateuch,"  and  for  a  more  extensive  examina- 
tion of  the  question,  the  writings  of  Driver, 
Wellhausen  and  Kuenen  are  recommended. 

In  the  examination  of  the  law,  we  find  the 
earliest  code  in  Exodus  belonging  to  the  Jeho- 
vistic  or  "J"  document,  dating  after  b.  c.  850. 
This  code,  called  ''The  Little  Book  of  the  Cove- 
nant," says  concerning  the  Sabbath:  "Six  days 
shalt  thou  work,  but  on  •  the  seventh  day  thou 
shalt  rest;  in  plowing  time  and  in  harvest, 
thou  shalt  rest."^  It  is  vaguely  hinted  that  it 
was  in  plowing  time  and  harvest  time  this  com- 
mandment was  specially  applicable.  It  is  easy  to 
see  the  reason  for  this.  In  the  early  period  of 
the  nation's  existence,  it  was  only  in  plowing 
time  and  harvest  time  that  there  was  any  kind 
of  laborious  work  performed.  The  remainder  of 
the  time  was  to  them  a  continual  rest,  as  watch- 
ing flocks  involved  no  real  labor  and  would  call 
for  as  much  attention  on  the  Seventh  Day  as  any 
other.  This  command  was  evidently  given  some 
1  Ex,  xxxiv.  21. 


Development  of  Seventh  Day  of  Hebrews.     61 

time  after  the  Israelites  had  entered  Canaan,  for 
plowing  and  harvesting  refer  only  to  a  settled  and 
an  agricultural  people,  and  would  not  be  given  in 
the  wilderness  when  they  were  fed  by  God  with 
daily  manna. 

The  next  reference  in  point  of  time,  to  the 
Sabbath,  is  found  in  the  code  contained  in  Exod\i^ 
XX.  22-xxiii.  33.  This  is  the  Elohistic  or  "E" 
document,  because  the  divine  Being  is  called 
"  Elohim,"  and  dates  about  B.  c.  750.  Here 
they  are  told  to  work  six  days  and  rest  the 
seventh ;  not  only  themselves,  but  their  oxen  and 
asses ;  not  only  in  plowing  time  and  harvest  time, 
but  all  the  time. 

The  next  step  in  the  development  of  the  Sev- 
enth Day,  is  taken  in  the  Deuteronomic  or  the 
"D"  document,  dating  about  B.C.  622.  This 
document  explains  that  the  Seventh  Day  is  the 
Sabbath  of  the  Lord,  and  then  states  why  they 
are  to  observe  it.  "  Thou  shalt  remember  that 
thou  wast  a  servant  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  the 
Lord  thy  God  brought  thee  out  thence  by  a 
mighty  hand  and  by  a  stretched  out  arm:  there- 
fore the  Lord  thy  God  commanded  thee  to  keep 
the  sabbath  day."^  This  furnishes  the  sole  motive 
to  secure  obedience.  According  to  this  code  it  was 
1  Deut.  V.  15. 


62     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

a  memorial  day,  but  it  is  an  advance  on  what 
preceded.  Here  the  Sabbath  is  claimed  to  have 
come  into  existence  after  the  Israelites  had  crossed 
the  Red  Sea.  This  document  is  the  first  to  give 
a  reason  for  its  observance. 

A  still  later  statement  uttered  by  Ezekiel  is 
found  in  the  period  of  the  Exile.  The  prophet 
impresses  upon  his  people  the  words  of  the  Lord, 
"  I  gave  them  my  Sabbaths  to  be  a  sign  between 
me  and  them,  that  they  might  know  that  I  am  the 
Lord  that  sanctify  them?"i  At  this  time  they 
were  in  captivity  in  Babylon  without  temple,  sac- 
rifices, offerings,  etc.,  but  there  was  one  thing 
that  could  be  and  was  maintained  in  this  strange 
land,  and  that  was  the  Sabbath.  Ezekiel  made 
the  Sabbath  at  this  time  the  fundamental  insti- 
tution of  Judaism.  It  was  the  one  sign  by  which 
the  Jews  showed  their  loyalty  to  God.  This  is  a 
new  conception  added  to  that  of  a  memorial  day. 
It  now  begins  to  take  on  a  sacred  character,  that 
is,  having  special  connection  with  God. 

The  final  step  towards  the  perfection  of  the 
Jewish  Sabbath  is  found  in  the  first  creation  story 
of  Genesis.  This  is  called  the  Priestly  or  "  P  " 
document  and  dates  about  b.  c.  450.  The  teach- 
ing of  this  document  is,  that  they  were  to  work 
1  Ezek.  XX.  12. 


Development  of  Seventh  Bay  of  Hebrews,     63 

six  days  because  God  worked  six  days  in  the 
creation  of  the  world,  and  rest  the  seventh  be- 
cause God  rested  the  Seventh  Day  from  his  work. 
The  Sabbath  in  the  Levitical  law  belongs  to  this 
document;  so  also  does  the  second  part  of  the 
Sabbatic  commandment  contained  in  the  "  E " 
decalogue.  The  reason  is  altogether  different 
from  that  given  before.  The  Jews  have  now 
returned  from  Captivity  and  are  settled  down  in 
their  old  home  with  the  temple  and  its  outfit  as 
before.  The  sign  between  God  and  Israel,  in 
the  Exile,  is  inadequate  now  as  they  have  many 
signs  in  the  form  of  the  temple,  sacrifices,  in- 
cense, and  holy  times.  The  tradition  of  God  resting 
after  the  creation  of  the  world,  was  finally  identi- 
fied with  the  weekly  rest.  Obedience  was  now 
secured  by  emphasizing  the  rest  of  God  as  an 
example  to  man.  The  Sabbath  at  last  became 
a  fully  developed  divine  institution.  It  at  this 
time  assumed  a  sacred  character  which  it  did  not 
have  before  they  were  deported  to  Babylon.  Our 
examination  of  the  law ,  then ,  shows  us  that  the 
holy  day  was  first  given  to  the  Israelites,  as  a  law 
some  time  after  B.  c.  850,  in  a  very  crude  form,  but 
it  grew  in  sanctity  until  shortly  before  B.  c.  450, 
when  it  received  its  finishing  touches.  The  reason 
for  observing  it  was  changed  from  time  to  time  till 


64     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sundae/. 

its  completion  as  a  legal  statute  eighty-five  years 
after  the  Exile. 

In  sifting  the  testimony  of  the  prophets,  the 
strange  fact  meets  us,  that  no  mention  is  made 
of  the  Sabbath  at  all  by  the  earliest  prophets. 
Elisha  and  Elijah  each  fail  to  remind  their  hearers 
"  to  remember  the  Sabbath  day."  If  such  a  com- 
mand were  in  existence,  how  could  they  fail  to 
urge  upon  the  people  its  faithful  observance.  Its 
first  mention  by  the  prophets  was  by  Amos: 
"  When  will  the  new  moon  be  gone,  that  we  may 
sell  corn  ?  and  the  Sabbath,  that  we  may  set  forth 
wheat  ?  ^  "  Here  not  only  did  they  abstain  from 
work  on  the  Sabbath,  but  also  on  the  new  moon. 
Also  Hosea,  who  wrote  not  long  after  this  date, 
says:  "I  will  also  cause  all  her  mirth  to  cease, 
her  feasts,  her  new  moons,  and  her  Sabbaths, 
and  all  her  solemn  assemblies."  ^  According  to 
this  prophet  the  Sabbath  was  a  day  of  joy,  mirth, 
and  festivity ;  so  also  was  the  new  moon.  Isaiah 
wrote  in  this  complaining  strain :  "  Bring  no  more 
vain  oblations;  incense  is  an  abomination  unto  me; 
new  moon  and  Sabbath,  the  calling  of  assemblies, 
—  I  cannot  away  with  iniquity,  and  the  solemn 
meeting."  ^ 

The  Exilian   prophets    follow  in  chronological 
1  Amos  viii.  5.  2  Hqs.  ii.  11.  a  isa.  i.  13,  14. 


Development  of  Seventh  Day  of  Hebrews.     Q^ 

order.  This  class,  which  includes  Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel  and  II.  Isaiah,  all  express  an  acquaintance 
with  the  Sabbath.  The  keeping  of  the  day  is 
commanded  and  its  violation  is  denounced.  Jere- 
miah gives  specific  directions  not  to  bear  any 
burden  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  exhorts  the 
people  to  "  Sanctify  the  Sabbath  to  do  no  work 
thereon."  Isaiah  points  out  the  importance  of 
Sabbath  keeping.  The  prophets  of  the  post-exilian 
period  say  but  little  about  the  Sabbath  simply  be- 
cause they  went  to  the  other  extreme  and  observed 
the  Sabbath  too  literally,  therefore  needing  no 
special  exhortation.  It  was  only  the  prophets  of 
the  Babylonian  Captivity  that  emphasized  Sabbath 
keeping.  The  prophets  before  the  Captivity  did 
not  lay  stress  upon  the  holy  day,  nor  provide  a 
penalty  for  its  violation.  The  only  solution  is 
that  the  Sabbath  Day  was  not  known  to  them  as 
an  institution  of  God,  but  only  as  a  relic  of  a 
heathen  custom.  It  is  true  the  new  moon  was 
known  to  them  as  well  as  the  Sabbath,  and  one 
was  as  sacred  as  the  other,  but  at  this  time  the 
Sabbath  had  not  received  its  divine  sanction,  nor 
was  its  observance  compulsory.  The  study  of 
the  prophets,  then,  brings  out  the  fact  that  the 
first  mention  of  the  Sabbath  was  in  the  time  of 
Amos,  and  that  its   sanctity  was  not   developed 


6Q     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

until   after  the   Exile,  when  the   institution  was 
perfected. 

The  references  to  the  Sabbath  in  the  historic 
books  are  few  in  number.  The  Sabbath  does  not 
appear  in  the  books  of  Joshua,  Judges,  Ruth, 
I.  Samuel,  II.  Samuel,  and  I.  Kings.  The  first 
reference  is  found  in  II.  Kings  about  the  middle  of 
the  ninth  century.  Chronicles  records  the  fact  of 
a  Sabbath  as  well  as  the  new  moon  in  the  time 
of  Solomon,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  there  was 
a  divine  law  back  of  it.  Job,  in  enumerating  the 
duties  in  regard  to  which  he  had  been  faithful, 
completely  ignored  Sabbath  keeping.  Nehemiah 
rebukes  the  nobles  for  profaning  the  Sabbath,  and 
ordered  the  gates  of  the  city  to  be  shut  to  prevent 
traders  from  entering  and  polluting  the  sacredness 
of  the  day.  Thus  the  testimony  of  the  law, 
prophets,  and  historians  unite  in  making  note  of 
the  Sabbath  as  a  law  not  far  from  the  middle  of 
the  ninth  century  before  the  Christian  era.  If  it 
were  known  to  them  as  an  institution  based  upon  a 
commandment  of  God,  it  was  inexcusably  violated 
without  a  warning  voice  from  God  or  any  of  his 
prophets.  Such  a  condition  would  be  well  nigh 
impossible  if  it  were  regarded  as  of  divine  origin. 
The  following  cases  indicate  the  conception  that 
was  entertained  for  the  Sabbath  before  the  Exile. 


Development  of  Seventh  Day  of  Hebrews.     67 

In  Joshua  it  states  that  Jericho,  when  besieged, 
was  encompassed  seven  days  in  succession  which 
included  a  Sabbath.  It  scarcely  seems  possible 
that  Joshua,  who  trusted  so  much  to  God's  direc- 
tion, would  continue  his  siege  on  the  Sabbath, 
being  aware  of  a  divine  law  which  said  they  should 
do  no  manner  of  work  on  the  Sabbath  day; 
again  David  was  on  the  march  for  more  than 
seven  days  —  about  nine  or  ten  days  —  in  succes- 
sion without  a  rest  day,  which  would  not  have 
occurred,  had  he  been  instructed  in  a  Seventh  Day 
commandment.1  Furthermore,  when  the  kings  of 
Israel,  Judah,  and  Edom  commenced  military 
operations  against  the  king  of  Moab,  the  record 
says,  they  made  "A  circuit  of  seven  days'  jour- 
ney." 2  This  must  have  included  a  Sabbath  which 
was  treated  like  the  other  days  in  their  march  to 
attack  the  enemy.  The  king  of  Judah  at  this 
time  was  Jehoshaphat,  concerning  whom  the 
Scripture  states  that  he  did  right  in  the  sight  of 
the  Lord.^  Now  if  he  knew  of  the  obligation  of 
a  holy  rest  and  violated  it,  how  could  it  be  said 
he  did  right  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord?  It  is. 
inconceivable  also,  how  the  plot  to  crown  Jehoash 
by  force  of  arms,  assisted  by  the  priest,  Jehoida, 
could  have  been  carried  out  on  a  holy  day  in  the 

1  Sam.  XXX.  chap.      2  2  Kings  iii.  9.      ^  1  Kings  xxii.  43. 


68     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

face  of  a  divine  command,  without  a  stern  rebuke 
from  some  quarter  for  such  an  outrageous  dese- 
cration of  the  Sabbath.^  Here  was  a  rebellion 
plotted,  the  king  crowned,  and  Athaliah  murdered 
with  her  followers,  all  on  the  Sabbath  Day.  Yet 
of  this  king  it  is  said,  he  did  right  in  the  sight 
of  the  Lord  all  his  days.  ^  The  only  inference 
is  that  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  as  a  divine 
injunction,  was  not  known  to  the  Hebrews  at  that 
time. 

These  scattered  citations,  with  many  others  not 
referred  to,  clearly  establish  the  fact  that  the 
day,  to  the  Jews  before  the  middle  of  the  ninth 
century,  and  almost  to  the  Exile,  had  no  special 
Jewish  or  sacred  significance ;  in  other  words, 
the  observance  of  the  day  was  not  based  on  a 
divine  command,  but  rather  on  a  custom  of  the 
tribes  among  whom  they  settled.  This  largely 
explains  the  silence  pertaining  to  the  day  by  the 
historical  writers,  the  law  and  the  prophets,  before 
the  time  of  Amos. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  first  record  of 
the  Sabbath  by  prophets  and  historians  is  in  con- 
nection with  the  new  moon.  In  the  Old  Testa- 
ment (including  the  Apocrypha)  the  new  moon 
and  Sabbath  are  mentioned  together  eighteen 
I  2  Kings  xi.  chap.  2  2  ffings  xii.  2. 


Development  of  Seventh  Bay  of  Hebrews,     69 

times.  Judging  from  the  burnt  offerings  by  the 
prince  and  the  people,  the  new  moon  was  held  in 
higher  honor  than  the  Sabbath. "  For  the  prince, 
the  burnt  offerings  for  the  Sabbath  were  six  lambs 
and  one  ram ;  on  the  new  moon  it  was  one  bullock, 
six  lambs,  and  one  ram.^  For  the  people  the  Sab- 
bath offering  was  two  lambs,  on  the  new  moon 
it  was  two  bullocks,  one  ram  and  seven  lambs. ^ 
The  temple  gate  of  the  inner  court  was  shut 
six  days,  but  was  open  not  only  on  the  Sabbath  but 
also  on  the  new  moon.  On  these  days  the  people 
assembled  before  the  gate  for  the  purpose  of  wor- 
ship.' When  the  new  moon  and  Sabbath  are  con- 
nected, the  new  moon  refers  to  the  first  day  of  the 
month  and  the  Sabbath  to  the  seventh,  the  four- 
teenth and  the  twenty-first  days  of  the  month.  No 
one  before  the  exilian  prophets  condemned  Sabbath 
breaking.  They  hallowed  the  day  by  resting  from 
ordinary  laboro  Their  worship  consisted  mainly 
in  sacrifices  which  were  double  that  on  ordinary 
days.  It  was  not  till  after  the  middle  of  the 
ninth  century  that  a  command  was  given  to  the 
Israelites,  and  from  that  time  it  began  to  take  on 
a  Jewish  character ;  this  continued  till  the  priestly 
writer  finally  connected  it  with  the  creative  rest 
of  God,  which  was  the  crowning  act  in  the  per- 

1  Eze.  xlvi.  4,  6.    »  Num,  xxviii.  9,  11.    ^  Eze.  xlvi.  2,  3. 


TO     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabhath  and  Sunday. 

fection  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  Its  period  of 
development  stretches  in  round  number  from  B.C. 
850  to  about  B.C.  450.  It  was  then  nationalized 
by  the  Jew  and  invested  with  a  divine  character. 

A  question  will  arise  here  in  the  minds  of 
thinking  Christians,  and  one  which  demands  an  ex- 
planation in  order  to  prevent  doubt  or  misunder- 
standing. The  question  is,  Did  Moses  give  the  law  ? 
We  have  no  doubt  that  Moses  gave  the  nucleus 
of  the  law,  but  not  a  completed  law.  At  first 
there  was  a  crude  beginning  which  served  as  a 
nucleus  for  later  additions.  This  was  handed 
down  from  one  generation  to  another  by  word 
of  mouth.  Additions  were  made  to  this  from 
time  to  time  by  the  priests  and  prophets,  all  com- 
ing under  the  name  of  Moses.  The  Psalms  of 
David  are  a  parallel.  At  the  end  of  the  Seventy- 
second  Psalm  it  is  stated  that  the  prayers  or 
psalms  of  David  are  ended ;  but  after  this,  we 
find  many  psalms  called  the  "  Psalms  of  David." 
These  are  additions  made  at  a  later  date,  but  all 
represented  as  the  "  Psalms  of  David."  So  also 
in  regard  to  Proverbs.  The  introduction  conveys 
the  idea  that  the  following  proverbs  are  those  of 
Solomon,  but  proverbs  of  Agur  and  King  Lemuel, 
are  mentioned,  and  all  popularly  called  "  Proverbs 
of  Solomon."     So  likewise,  Moses  gave  the  chil- 


Development  of  Seventh  Day  of  Hebrews.     71 

dren  of  Israel  some  directions  and  commands, 
which  afterwards  received  additions,  and  all  are 
denominated  the  "  Law  of  Moses."  The  "  Little 
Code  of  laws  "  found  in  Exodus,  34th  chapter,  is 
the  nearest  approach  to  the  laws  as  they  came 
from  the  hand  of  Moses.  Yet  some  of  the  laws 
of  this  document  belong  to  a  later  period  than 
that  of  Moses,  for  instance,  the  command  referring 
to  resting  in  plowing  time  and  harvest  time,^ 
implying  a  settled  agricultural  people,  which  was 
after  the  days  of  Moses;  also  the  command  direct- 
ing the  Hebrews  to  appear  three  times  every 
year  before  the  Lord^  at  Jerusalem,  indicating 
a  time  when  Jerusalem  was  to  be  the  religious 
centre,  which  was  over  three  centuries  after  Moses' 
time ;  furthermore  the  command  not  to  worship 
or  make  graven  or  molten  images  must  have  been 
later  than  the  age  of  Moses,  for  we  are  told  in 
II.  Kings  that  Moses'  brazen  serpent  was  wor- 
shipped by  the  Israelites  till  the  time  of  Hezekiah, 
when  he  destroyed  it.^  Micah,  who  was  a  man  of 
God,  also  worshipped  graven  and  molten  images, 
which  he  made  himself,  but  they  were  taken  from 
him  by  the  Danites  who  coveted  them,  and  set 
them  up  and  kept  them  "  all  the  time  that  the 
house  of  the  Lord  was  at  Shiloh."  This  was 
1  Ex.  xxxiv.  21,        2  Ex.  xxxiv.  23.        ^  2  Kings  xviii.  4. 


72     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

done  without  rebuke  from  God  or  any  divine 
messenger. 

With  these  few  exceptions  this  earliest  law 
book,  the  Little  Book  of  the  Covenant,  contained 
a  portion  of  the  law  as  it  came  from  Moses,  and 
which  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  whole  pentateu- 
chal  legislation. 

Summarizing  we  have  the  following :  When  the 
Hebrews  settled  in  Palestine  they  adopted  directly 
the  Canaanitish  religious  customs,  including  the 
Seventh  Day.  This  was  a  lunar  feast  day,  a  joy 
day,  a  day  in  which  ordinary  work  was  laid  aside 
for  fear  of  offending  the  lunar  god.  This  holy 
day  together  with  the  new  moon  was  loosely  ob- 
served simply  from  force  of  custom,  till  about 
B.C.  850,  or  a  little  later,  when  a  command  was 
given  to  the  Hebrews  to  observe  it,  especially 
in  plowing  time  and  harvest  time.  About  a  cen- 
tury later,  we  find  another  code  containing  a  com- 
mandment to  observe  the  Seventh  Day  all  seasons. 
To  the  Hebrews  the  day  at  first  was  sim- 
ply a  rest  day  for  the  special  benefit  of  the  phys- 
ical constitution.  The  command  was  merely 
advisory  without  any  penalty  connected  with  it. 
In  the  reign  of  Josiah  another  law  was  promul- 
gated, which  presented  a  new  motive  for  keeping 
the  Sabbath.     This  law  tries  to  secure  obedience 


Development  of  Seventh  Day  of  Hebrews.    73  j 

j 
by  making  it  a  memorial  of  the  deliverance  of  the  .1 

Israelites  from  the  Egyptians.    It  was  then  a  memo-  \ 

rial  day.     After  they  were  taken  into  Exile,  Eze-  ; 
kiel   stamps    it   as    a    "sign"    between    God    and 
Israel,  changing  it  into  a  sign  day.     A  century  later 

they  were  to  rest  because  God  rested  the  Seventh  ■ 

Day  after  his  creative  work.     It  then  took  the  ; 

nature  of  an  example  day^  that  is  a  day  to  follow  : 

the  example  of  God.     It  is  in  this  period  that  we  \ 

find  a  fully  developed  sacred  Seventh  Day  Sab-  I 

bath.     From  this  time  on  Judaism  developed  in  i 
the  direction  of  legalism  until  it  assumed  the  char- 
acter of  the  Rabbinical  Sabbath. 


74     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE   SABBATH   IN   THE   CEEATION   STORY. 

The  title  of  this  chapter  calls  up  a  question 
which  must  be  settled  before  we  proceed  further 
in  our  investigation  of  the  subject.  It  is  this  : 
Was  the  account  of  the  Sabbath  in  the  first  crea- 
tion story  of  Genesis  an  arbitrary  statement,  an 
expression  of  primitive  views,  a  poetical  composi- 
tion, or  must  it  be  taken  literally  as  historic  truth! 

It  is  essential  to  get  a  clear  grasp  of  the  truth  as 
expressed  in  the  Bible  regarding  the  creation  Sab- 
bath. "And  on  the  seventh  day,"  we  read,  "God 
finished  his  work  which  he  had  made;  and  he 
rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his  work  which  he 
had  made.^  And  God  blessed  the  seventh  day  and 
hallowed  it ;  because  that  in  it  he  had  rested  from 
all  his  work  which  God  had  created  and  made." 
God  simply  rested  from  his  work  on  the  Seventh 
Day  and  blessed  it.  It  was  only  on  that  par- 
ticular day  that  God  rested,  and  not  on  any  other 
1  Gen.  ii.  2,  3. 


The  Sabbath  in  the   Creation  Story.  75 

or  succeeding  Seventh  Day.  No  command  is  here 
given  to  any  human  being  to  observe,  nor  can  it 
in  any  legitimate  way  be  construed  as  a  command 
applicable  then  or  since.  Of  what  use  would  a 
command  be  at  the  beginning,  seeing  that  human 
kind  did  not  "  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  i 
or  in  other  words  worship  God,  for  a  long  time 
after.  The  substance  of  the  text  is  the  historic 
statement  that  God  rested  from  His  work  the 
Seventh  Day  of  his  creation ;  at  least  the  wording 
evidently  reveals  the  above  conception  as  the 
mind  of  the  author,  and  we  must  not  read  any- 
thing else  into  it.  And  because  he  rested,  "  God 
blessed  and  hallowed  it.'*  This  additional  phrase 
does  not  in  any  way  change  the  meaning.  "  To 
bless"  here  simply  means,  to  praise,  as  in  the 
passage,  "  Bless  the  Lord,  Oh  my  soul,  and  all 
that  is  within  me  bless  his  holy  name."  To 
hallow  in  this  case  is  to  honor ;  as  in  the  passage, 
"  Hallowed  be  thy  name."  For  God  then  to  look 
with  feelings  of  honor  and  praise  towards  a  stated 
day,  the  day  he  rested  after  creation,  does  in  no 
way  involve  a  commandment  to  man  to  rest  every 
seventh  solar  day  afterwards.  The  record  itself 
claims  that  no  Sabbath  was  given  to  the  Israelites 
before  Exodus.     The  following  texts  throw  addi- 

1  Gen.  iv.  26. 


76     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  ayid  Sunday, 

tional  light.  "  So  I  caused  them  to  go  forth  out 
of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  brought  them  into  the 
wilderness.  And  I  gave  them  my  statutes  and 
showed  them  my  judgments,  which  if  any  man  do 
he  shall  live  in  them.  Moreover  also  I  gave  them 
my  Sabbaths,  to  be  a  sign  between  me  and  them, 
that  they  might  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  that 
sanctify  them."  ^  The  wording  will  not  sustain 
any  other  meaning  than  that  the  Sabbath  was 
given  after  their  departure  from  Egypt.  "  Thou 
camest  down  also  upon  Mount  Sinai,  and  spakest 
with  them  from  heaven,  and  gavest  them  righteous 
judgments  and  true  laws,  good  statutes  and  com- 
mandments :  and  madest  known  unto  them  thy 
holy  Sabbath."  ^  These  passages  cannot  be  inter- 
preted in  any  other  way  than  that  the  Sabbath 
was  given  after  the  Exodus  and  not  at  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world. 

Another  fact  implied  in  the  text  is  that  the 
author  had  in  mind  a  day  of  twenty-four  hours. 
The  priestly  writer  seems  to  claim  that  the  work- 
ing and  resting  of  God  is  a  model  to  us.  Some 
claim  the  day  refers  to  an  epoch  of  time.  How 
could  the  seventh  epoch  of  time  obligate  any  one 
to  rest  the  seventh  day,  any  more  than  the  seventh 
hour,  seventh  week,  seventh  month,  or  seventh 
1  Eze.  XX.  10,  11,  12.  2  Neh.  ix.  13,  14. 


The  Sabbath  in  the   Creation  Story.         11 

year?  Why  should  God  require  epochs  of  time 
to  create,  when  all  He  had  to  do  was  to  speak  the 
word  and  it  was  done.  If  periods  of  time  are 
referred  to,  then  from  what  point  was  the  first 
twenty-four  hours  reckoned  ?  When  did  He  com- 
mence the  recurring  seven-day  week  ?  When  we 
consider  that  each  day  had  an  evening  and  morn- 
ing, consisting  of  daylight  and  darkness,  and  that 
the  sun  ruled  the  day  and  the  moon  the  night,  we 
must  concede  the  author  had  in  mind  a  day  of 
twenty-four  hours.  From  the  context,  it  is  im- 
possible to  doubt  that  the  day  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  writer  was  similar  to  our  day.  We  do  not 
say  that  this  creation  day  is  scientific,  but  it  was 
at  least  the  author's  view  of  the  matter. 

Again  we  are  told  that  God  finished  His  work 
on  the  Sabbath  Day:  "And  on  the  seventh  day 
God  fin^^shed  his  work  which  he  had  made."^  It 
would  seem  by  this,  that  God  did  not  end  His 
work  on  the  sixth  day ;  but  on  the  seventh  day ; 
therefore  He  must  have  worked  a  part  of  the  holy 
day.  However  this  is  not  a  serious  objection 
though  it  does  represent  another  account. 

It  is  certainly  evident  that  the  account  was  not 
written  from  the  standpoint  of  science  but  from 
that  of  a  Babylonian.  The  earth  is  pictured  to  us 
1  GeD.  ii.  2. 


78     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday/. 

as  the  centre  of  the  universe,  and  the  sun,  moon, 
and  stars  as  little  lights,  passing  under  the  dome 
above,  to  serve  the  purpose  of  the  earth's  inhabi- 
tants. Even  the  sun,  it  is  claimed,  was  created 
on  the  fourth  day  of  the  earth's  existence.  The 
day  commenced  with  the  evening,  because  the 
new  moon,  commencing  the  month,  appears  at 
first  in  the  evening.  The  waters  were  separated 
into  an  upper  and  lower  plane  with  a  firmament 
and  an  earth  between ;  that  above  shows  itself 
during  a  rain,  and  is  expressed  in  the  words  "  the 
windows  of  heaven  were  opened,"  and  that  below 
appears  when  the  water  bubbles  up  out  of  the 
ground  in  the  form  of  a  spring.  The  Sacred 
Word  tells  of  water-chambers  above,  from  which 
God  "  waters  the  hills."  ^  These  chambers  were 
supported  by  pillars  which  God  bears  up.^  This 
leads  us  to  the  conclusion  that  the  writer  is  not 
speaking  from  the  standpoint  of  absolute  truth 
but  from  the  view  of  the  people  with  whom 
he  lived.  It  was  the  infancy  of  the  human  race 
and  their  ideas  were  naturally  very  crude.  God 
is  represented  to  us  as  resting  and  "  was  re- 
freshed "^  after  his  work  of  creation.  But  why 
should  the  author  say  this,  when  God  in  the  act 
of  creation  only  spoke  the  word  and  it  was  done 
1  Ps.  civ.  13.      2  ps,  ixxv.  3  :  civ.  3.       »  Ex.  xxxi.  17. 


The  Sabbath  in  the   Creation  Story,         79 

instantly.  God  said,  "  Let  there  be  light  and 
there  was  light."  Such  statements  of  belief  com- 
port with  the  mind  in  the  infant  stages  of  the 
race.  It  is  true  notwithstanding  that  God  can 
voice  himself  through  such  men ;  and  indeed  did 
speak  "through  holy  men  of  old,"  though  they 
were  without  scholastic  training.  It  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  divine  enlightenment  does  not  do 
away  with  one's  limitations  or  personality.  In- 
spiration is  defined  as, "The  human  enforced  by 
the  divine  Spirit  manifesting  itself  in  excellence 
of  various  kinds  and  degrees,  but  especially  in 
extraordinary,  though  not  infallible  insight  into 
the  nature  and  purposes  of  God."i  Inspiration 
did  not  transform  John  into  Peter,  or  Peter  into 
John ;  it  did  not  make  them  perfect  in  all  things 
nor  infallible  in  any  particular.  Inspiration  did 
not  do  away  with  the  learning  of  Paul,  it  simply 
enforced  what  he  had ;  so  that  he  was  all  the 
better  equipped  for  the  conflict  with  the  Greek 
philosophers.^  Inspiration  by  no  means  makes  one 
infallible  in  all  points  of  knowledge.  There  is 
unity  among  intelligent  and  consecrated  men  of 
God  when  it  comes  to  spiritual  principles,  but  on 
other  matters  there  may  be  difference  of  opinion. 
Paul  and  Barnabas  differed  about  taking  Mark 
1  Inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament  by  Prof.  H.  G.  Mitchell. 


80     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

with  them  on  their  second  journey  and  separated 
from  one  another.  Paul  gives  his  own  judgment 
concerning  marriage,  which  may  be  right  and  may 
not.^  Matthew  quotes  a  text  from  Jeremiah,  but 
the  margin  tells  us  the  prophecy  is  in  Zechariah.^ 
Ezekiel  prophesies  the  destruction  of  Tyre  by 
Nebuchadrezzar,  but  he  failed  to  destroy  it,  and 
then  Ezekiel  confesses  his  mistake  and  a  recom- 
pense is  offered.^  This  is  regarded  as  a  mistake 
of  the  prophet  in  the  divine  intention,  though  it 
in  no  way  discredits  his  inspiration.  The  prophet 
Nathan  gave  David  certain  directions,  but  the 
next  morning  he  withdrew  them  and  gave  him  a 
different  message.  Once  Jeremiah  had  to  wait 
ten  days  before  he  could  find  out  what  the  will 
of  God  was.^  These  examples  clearly  show  that 
holy  men  may  be  inspired  of  God  and  yet  are 
limited  in  knowledge  and  wisdom. 

The  author  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis 
endeavors  with  the  resources  which  he  had  at 
hand,  to  give  his  views  of  the  origin  of  the  Sab- 
bath. Research  for  the  last  twenty-five  years  in 
connection  with  Babylon  has  brought  to  light 
things  which  would  serve  as  material  for  perfect- 
ing the  Sabbatic  institution.      George    Smith  re- 

1  1  Cor.  vii.  25.  ^  Ezek.  xxvi.  7  ;  xxix.  17  f. 

a  Matt,  xxvii.  9.  *  Jer.  xlii.  7. 


The  Sabbath  in  the   Creation  Story.         81 

marks  "  The  account  of  the  creation  in  six  days 
was  not  the  only  account  among  the  inhabitants 
of  Assyria  and  Babylonia."  ^  Seven  tablets  have 
been  found  each  representing  a  step  in  the  process 
of  creation.  The  sacred  writer  evidently  identi- 
fied the  days  of  the  week  with  the  seven  tablets 
of  creation  found  with  the  Babylonians.  It  seems 
to  be  a  case  of  parallelism.  The  Sabbath  Day 
was  to  the  writer  of  Genesis  in  existence  from 
time  immemorial;  there  was  not  a  time,  to  his 
view,  that  the  Sabbath  did  not  exist.  Seeing  its 
great  antiquity  how  that  it  met  a  need  in  the 
progress  of  humanity ;  and  observing  how  nearly 
all  peoples  readily  adopted  the  seven-day  division 
rather  than  any  other,  also  the  traditions  in  Baby- 
lonia regarding  the  seven  tablets  or  seven  days 
representing  creation,  he  came  to  the  conclusion 
from  these  facts  that  the  Sabbath  must  have  been 
originated  by  God  in  the  beginning  of  the  world. 
Interpreting  the  mind  of  God  as  best  he  could,  he 
endeavored  with  the  command  of  limited  material 
and  information,  to  account  in  a  minute  way  for 
its  origin.  In  the  same  manner,  the  Biblical 
writer  sees  the  divine  institution  of  marriage,  and 
tries  to  account  for  its  origin  in  the  tradition  that 
woman  was  produced  from  a  rib  or  the  side  of  a 
1  Chaldean  Genesis  by  Smith,    p.  91. 


82     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

man,  on  which  account  she  was  therefore  to  obey 
him,  etc. 

Likewise  the  mission  of  language  is  believed  to 
be  divine ;  the  writer  attempts  to  give  its  origin, 
and  then  follows  with  the  story  of  the  confusion 
of  tongues  while  the  race  was  building  a  tower 
to  heaven.  Now  we  are  told  that  languages  have 
grown  and  developed  like  a  tree.  The  words 
of  Max  Miiller  put  the  matter  in  a  nutshell : 
"  Every  child  now  learns  at  school  that  English 
is  an  Aryan  or  Indo-European  language,  that  it 
belongs  to  the  Teutonic  branch,  and  that  this 
branch,  together  with  the  Italic,  Greek,  Celtic, 
Slavonic,  Iranic  and  Indie  branches  all  spring 
from  the  same  stock  and  form  together  the  great 
Aryan  or  Indo-European  family  of  speech."  ^ 
New  languages  have  sprung  up  recently,  that  is 
languages  developed  during  the  last  thousand  years. 
The  Italian,  French,  and  Spanish  are  compara- 
tively new  languages  that  have  grown  out  of  the 
Latin  tongue.  In  the  days  when  Rome  was  in 
her  imperial  splendor,  these  three  languages  did 
not  exist. 

We  neither  doubt  that  language  is  divine  nor 
that  the  Biblical  writer  tried  to  express  this  as 
his  opinion.  Language  is  an  index  of  a  higher 
1  What  India  can  teach  us,  p.  45. 


The  Sahhath  in  the   Creation  Story,         83 

nature  in  man ;  for  this  to  be  so,  God  must  enter 
him,  and  show  Himself  in  the  mind  and  spirit. 
Without  this,  there  would  be  little  or  no  progress. 
Language  is  the  symbol  of  the  inflow  of  God  into 
humanity;  it  is  humanity's  great  blessing.  The 
great  truth  that  these  men  of  God  were  trying 
to  impress  was  that  of  the  divine  origin  of  these 
institutions.  The  details  of  the  account  are  not 
the  important  thing,  as  they  only  reflect  their 
own  \dew.  The  important  truth  is  that  these  in- 
stitutions are  divine,  which  holds  good  to-day  as 
when  first  spoken.  This  priestly  writer  must  cer- 
tainly have  been  inspired,  to  give  such  a  simple, 
true,  and  picturesque  view  of  the  Sabbath  as 
compared  with  the  polytheistic  fairy  tales  and 
mythical  absurdities  which  were  current  in  that 
day. 

These  early  views  of  the  world  and  institutions 
generally  had  a  grand  mission,  and  served  the 
needs  of  humanity  until  a  very  recent  date.  In 
this  day  and  age,  science  has  given  us  clearer 
conceptions,  and  the  old  must  now  give  way  to 
the  new.  It  is  not  to  be  understood  that  the 
essential  thing  is  to  be  swept  away.  The  lumi- 
nous star  in  the  evening  sky  has  been  the  same 
for  ages ;  it  does  not  change,  but  men  are  getting 
new  and  better  views  of  it.     So  it  is  with  regard 


84     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

to  divine  things ;  they  exist  as  they  always  have, 
but  we  are  getting  new  and  better  views  of  them. 
This  thought  of  one  idea  superseding  another  is 
beautifully  suggested  by  Rev.  George  A.  Gor- 
don, D.D.  "  The  universe  of  the  ancient  thinker," 
he  says,  "was  insignij&cant,  almost  petty,  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  intelligent  man  of  to-day. 
...  Our  planet  was  the  very  centre  of  the 
old  astronomy,  the  biggest  of  all  the  heavenly 
bodies,  the  most  important  from  all  points  of 
view,  and  the  whole  stellar  world  had  its  final 
cause  of  being  in  ministering  to  the  welfare  of 
the  earth.  The  unparalleled  creation  hymn  with 
which  the  Book  of  Genesis  opens  is  based  upon  the 
old  astronomv.  It  could  have  been  based  upon  no 
other,  for  there  was  then  no  other.  And  the  fact 
that  it  rests  upon  superseded  science,  no  more 
discredits  its  imperishable  moral  and  spiritual 
worth  than  the  immense  mass  of  outgrown  opin- 
ion in  Dante's  great  poem,  discredits  the  endur- 
ing splendor  of  that  production,  and  its  permanent 
value  for  mankind."  ^  Supersession  is  the  fate  of 
all  science,  philosophy,  and  religion.  The  funda- 
mentals endure,  but  man's  view  of  them  must 
progress  toward  absolute  truth,  as  he  grows  in 
his  intelligence  and  broadens  in  his  capacity. 
1  The  Christ  of  To-day,  p.  6. 


The  Sabbath  in  the    Creation  Story,  85 

As  one  becomes  large  mentally  the  real  thing 
will  have  a  new  meaning  to  him.     This  is  a  uni- 
versal experience.     God  is  first  conceived  of  as 
a  great  giant   in  the   sky,  tabernacled  in  human 
form ;  the  racial  child  could  not  think  of  him  in 
any  other  way,  for  it  had  not  the  mental  capacity 
to  do  so.     Later  on  the  Divine  Being  is  thought 
of  as  a  great  King   seated  with  royal   splendor 
upon  a  magnificent  throne,  sending  his  angels  to 
do  his  bidding;  and  lastly,  God  is  conceived  of 
as  an  unseen  Spirit  everywhere  present.     So  like- 
wise the  specific  details  about  the  origin  of  the 
Sabbath    corresponded   with   the    height   of    the 
mental  development  of  the  early  Jews  and  fitted 
well  with  the  conceptions  of  their  age.     Paul  says 
that  "  God  winked  at  their  ignorance,"  etc.,  im- 
plying that  their  ignorance  would  some  day  give 
way  to  new  light  and  truth.     When  an  institution 
meets  the  purpose  of  humanity  in  ministering  to 
its  welfare  morally  or  spiritually,  it  is  divine  ;  and 
when  it  ceases  to  do  that,  the  time  has  come  for 
it  to  be  superseded  by  a  nobler,  higher,  and  more 
helpful  institution.     Thus  Christ  put  away  part 
of  the  Mosaic  law  that  had  a  "Thus  saith   the 
Lord"  behind  it.     "Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said 
to    them    of    old    time,       thou    shalt    not     for- 
swear thyself,  but   shalt  perform   unto   the   Lord 


86     Seientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

thine  oaths :  but  I  say  unto  you  swear  not  at 
all ;  "  1  etc.  In  this  sense,  the  Sabbath  is  a  divine 
institution;  however,  the  details  connected  with 
its  origin  are  superseded  by  higher  and  more 
scientific    views. 

1  Matt.  V.  33,  34. 


Transition  of  Lunar  to  Regular  Seventh  Day,     87 


CHAPTER   IV. 

TRANSITION  FROM  THE  LUNAR  SEVENTH  DAY 
TO  THE  REGULAR  SEVENTH  DAY. 

A  SHORT  time  ago  an  interesting  and  ingenious 
pamphlet  entitled  "  Saturdarian "  appeared,  in 
which  the  claim  was  made  that  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath occurred  on  certain  fixed  days  of  the  month. 
So  fascinating  was  its  presentation,  that  a  noted 
bishop  declared  it  the  greatest  discovery  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  The  idea  of  fixed  Sabbaths 
among  the  Hebrews  has  been  long  held  by  He- 
brew exegetes  and  scholars  versed  in  Oriental 
customs  and  institutions,  but  these  Sabbaths  took 
place  at  the  changes  of  the  moon.  This  differed 
widely  from  the  view  of  Mr.  Gamble,  the  author 
of  "Saturdarian,"  whose  Sabbaths  were  upon 
other  fixed  dates.  Upon  examination,  the  latter's 
position  is  not  borne  out  by  facts.  He  first  as- 
sumes that  the  Hebrews  had  thirty  days  in  their 
months.  This  mistake  alone  overthrows  the  whole 
theory.     At  no  time  did  the  Hebrews  have  a  sue- 


88     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday, 

cession  of  months  of  thirty  days  each.  Until  some 
time  in  the  Christian  era  they  commenced  the 
month  with  the  appearance  of  the  new  moon,  and 
ended  it  with  the  appearance  of  the  next  new 
moon.  A  passage  in  the  Talmud  clears  away  all 
doubt  as  to  the  beginning  and  length  of  the  month: 
"  On  the  thirtieth  day  of  the  moon,"  says  this 
book,  *' watchmen  were  placed  on  commanding 
heights  around  Jerusalem  to  watch  the  sky.  As 
soon  as  each  of  them  detected  the  moon,  he 
hastened  to  the  house  of  the  city  which  was  kept 
for  the  purpose  and  was  there  examined  by  the 
president  of  the  Sanhedrim.  When  the  evidence  of 
the  appearance  was  deemed  satisfactory,  the  presi- 
dent rose  and  formally  announced  it,  uttering  the 
words,  'It  is  consecrated.'  The  information  was 
immediately  sent  throughout  the  land  from  the 
Mount  of  Olivet  by  beacon  fires  from  the  tops  of 
the  hills.  "1 

The  conception  of  the  thirty-day  month  is  taken 
from  the  Biblical  account  of  the  deluge.  On  the 
17th  day  of  the  second  month  Noah,  and  all  with 
him,  entered  the  ark,^  and  on  the  17th  day  of  the 
seventh  month  the  ark  rested  on  Mount  Ararat.^ 
This  makes  exactly  five  months.    The  record  goes 

1  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  p,  450. 

2  Gen.  vii.  11.  a  Gen.  viii.  4. 


Transition  of  Lunar  to  Regular  Seventh  Day.    89 

on  to  state  that  at  **the  end  of  an  hundred  and 
fifty  days  the  waters  decreased."  ^  Dividing  the 
number  of  days  by  five  it  would  give  just  thirty 
days  for  each  month.  But  this  will  not  stand  the 
test  of  close  examination.  In  this  record  there 
are  a  number  of  fragments  loosely  thrown  together 
and  not  intended  to  be  taken  as  exact  in  all  de- 
tails. Notice  in  Gen.  7 :  12  it  rained  or  prevailed 
forty  days  and  forty  nights,  and  in  the  twenty- 
fourth  verse  of  the  same  chapter  the  waters  pre- 
vailed one  hundred  and  fifty  days.  At  the  end 
of  forty  days  Noah  sent  forth  a  dove  out  of  the 
ark,  and  seven  days  after  its  return  he  sent  it 
forth  again  and  it  brought  back  an  olive  leaf, 
which  led  Noah  to  conclude  that  the  waters  were 
abated  from  off  the  earth.^  This  clearly  intimates 
that  in  forty-seven  days  the  waters  of  the  flood 
were  dried  up.  In  the  third  verse  of  the  eighth 
chapter  it  says,  "After  the  end  of  an  hundred 
and  fifty  days  the  waters  decreased."  These  state- 
ments cannot  be  literally  reconciled,  and  must  be 
considered  as  two  different  versions  of  the  deluge 
story  which  the  author  presented  for  our  infor- 
mation. Looking  at  it  in  another  way,  it  was 
after  one  hundred  and  fifty  days  were  ended  that 
the  waters  commenced  to  decrease ;  that  is  to  say, 
1  Gen.  viii.  3.  '       2  Qen.  viii.  11. 


90     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

it  could  not  have  been  earlier  than  the  hundred 
and  fifty-first  day  of  the  flood  that  the  ark  rested ; 
and  this  would  give  more  than  thirty  days  to  the 
month.  The  context  informs  us  the  ark  rested  on 
the  17th  day  of  the  seventh  month  or  the  last  day 
that  it  rained.  For  the  ark  to  rest  before  the 
water  began  to  dry  up  contradicts  all  the  evidences 
of  reason.  It  must  have  been  many  days  before 
the  waters  were  sufficiently  abated  for  the  ark  to 
find  a  secure  resting  place,  for  it  was  the  tenth 
month  when  the  mountain  peaks  began  to  appear.^ 
Anyway  the  subject  is  looked  at,  nothing  satisfac- 
tory regarding  the  length  of  the  month  can  be 
arrived  at.  The  record  here  is  too  fragmentary, 
imperfect  and  indefinite  to  be  made  the  basis  of 
any  theory. 

There  is  no  evidence  either  that  the  Israelites 
copied  after  the  model  of  the  Egyptian  months, 
as  is  confidently  claimed  by  some  reputable  writers. 
The  belief  in  a  month  of  thirty  days  among  the 
Hebrews  is  one  that  fails  to  find  any  facts  to  con- 
firm its  claims.  The  earliest  reference  to  a  calen- 
dar is  by  the  book  of  Enoch  in  the  second  century 
before  Christ.  They  then  had  six  months  of 
thirty  days  and  six  of  twenty-nine  days.  Galen 
of  the  second  century  after  Christ  informs  us  they 
^  Gen.  viii.  5. 


Transition  of  Lunar  to  Regular  Seventh  Day,    91 

had  periods  of  two  months  of  fifty-nine  days,  one 
month  having  thirty  days  and  the  other  twenty- 
nine  days.^  It  is  an  undisputed  fact  that  until  a 
short  time  before  the  Christian  era,  the  Jews  began 
the  month  when  they  first  saw  the  new  moon. 

While  scholars  have  asserted  the  existence  of 
lunar  Sabbaths  among  the  early  Hebrews,  they 
have  failed  to  go  into  particulars  and  indicate 
when  these  lunar  Sabbaths  were  changed  to  the 
regular  seventh  day  of  time.  The  task  before  us 
therefore  is  to  show  when  the  transition  from  the 
seventh  day  of  the  moon  to  the  seventh  day  of 
the  calendar  took  place. 

As  has  been  pointed  out,^  the  Hebrews  borrowed 
largely  in  religious  matters  from  other  tribes  with 
whom  they  came  in  contact.  The  author  of 
Judges  informs  us  that  the  Israelites  married  their 
sons  and  daughters  to  the  Canaanites  and  adopted 
their  religion  outright.^  Until  shortly  before  the 
Exile  the  Israelites  differed  very  little  from  them 
in  customs,  habits,  and  religious  views.  Even 
their  conception  of  God  was  but  slightly  different 
from  their  conception  of  the  gods  of  the  nations. 
In  the  dispute  between  Jephthah  and  the  king  of 
the  Ammonites   over  the  possession  of  the  land 

1  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of  Christ,  Div.  1,  vol.  II.,  p.  367. 

2  Chapter  I.,  Part  II.  '  Judg.  iii.  5,  6. 


92     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday, 

of  the  Amorites,  the  king  of  Israel  concluded  with 
these  words :  "  So  now  the  Lord  the  God  of 
Israel  hath  dispossessed  the  Amorites  from  before 
his  people  Israel,  and  shouldst  thou  possess  them  ? 
Wilt  not  thou  possess  that  which  Chemosh  thy 
god  giveth  thee  to  possess  ?  So  whomsoever  the 
Lord  our  God  hath  dispossessed  from  before  us, 
them  will  we  possess."  ^  This  text  alone  indicates 
that  the  God  of  Israel  and  the  God  of  the  Ammon- 
ites were  both  regarded  as  real  beings,  and  occu- 
pied the  same  position  to  their  respective  peoples. 

Idolatry  was  generally  practised  until  the  time 
Israel  was  carried  away  captive  into  Babylon. 
The  story  of  Micah's  idols  conveys  to  us  their 
religious  conceptions  and  practices  in  the  time  of 
the  Judges.  In  this  instance  Micah  made  a  molten 
and  graven  image  and  had  a  priest  to  officiate. 
The  Danites  took  them  and  set  them  up  at  Dan, 
and  worshipped  them  all  the  time  the  house  of 
God  was  at  Shiloh.  2  When  the  idol  was  set  up 
at  Dan  it  was  the  grandson  of  Moses  who  was  the 
officiating  priest.  This  was  all  done  without  the 
rebuke  of  a  priest,  prophet,  or  any  representative 
of  God.  Gideon  also  made  a  golden  idol  and 
placed  it  in  the  city  of  Ophrah.^  The  Ten  Tribes 
had  idols  placed  at  Dan  and  Bethel,  of  which  it 

*  Judg.  xi.  23,  24.      *  Judg.  xviii.  31.      *  Judg.  viii.  27. 


Transition  of  Lunar  to  Regular  Seventh  Day.  93 

was  said:  ''Behold  thy  gods,  0  Israel,  which 
brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  "^  This 
was  their  religious  state  for  two  and  a  half  cen- 
turies. If  we  consult  the  prophets  we  find  accord- 
ing to  Ezekiel  that  idolatry  never  ceased  with  the 
Israelites  in  Egypt,  in  the  wilderness,  and  in  the 
land  of  Canaan.2  The  hundred  and  sixth  psalm 
echoes  the  same  truth.  In  the  reign  of  Hezekiah  a 
reformation  took  place  in  which  the  King  de- 
stroyed the  brazen  serpent  of  Moses,  concerning 
which  it  states,  "  For  unto  those  days  the  children 
of  Israel  did  burn  incense  to  it."  ^  This  kind  of 
worship  was  never  interfered  with  by  any  servant 
of  God.  Manasseh  introduced  the  Assyrian  re- 
ligion into  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  with  but  little 
opposition  from  the  people.  This  would  have 
been  literally  impossible  had  there  been  much 
difference  between  the  two  systems  of  worship. 
Antiochus  Epiphanes  introduced  a  new  religion 
into  Jerusalem  but  it  was  at  the  expense  of  the 
lives  of  hundreds  of  Jews.  The  reason  of  this 
is  that  it  was  diametrically  opposed  to  the  settled 
convictions  of  this  pious  people.  A  reformation 
took  place  under  King  Josiah,  but  it  produced 
but  little  effect  upon  the  people,  for  not  long 
after  this  event  we  find  this  statement  of  Jere- 
1  1  Kings  xii.  28.  ^  Fzek.  xx.  10,  13,  28.     ^  2  Kings  xviii.  4. 


94    Scientific  Basis  of  Sahbath  and  Sunday, 

miah  regarding  Judah,  ''According  to  the  number 
of  thy  cities  are  thy  gods. '  '^  IsraeJ  constantly  wor- 
shipped other  gods,  particularly  the  moon,  before 
the  Exile.  In  the  days  immediately  preceding 
the  Captivity  the  people  would  not  hearken  to 
Jeremiah,  but  determined  to  burn  incense  to  the 
"  queen  of  heaven "  (moon),  made  cakes  to  wor- 
ship her,  and  poured  out  drink  offerings  to  her,  etc. 
The  extent  of  this  kind  of  worship  is  judged  from 
this  text :  "  To  burn  incense  unto  the  queen  of 
heaven,  and  to  pour  out  drink  offerings  unto  her, 
as  we  have  done,  we  and  our  fathers,  our  kings 
and  our  princes,  in  the  cities  of  Judah,  and  in  the 
streets  of  Jerusalem :  for  then  had  we  plenty  of 
victuals,  and  were  well,  and  saw  no  evil.  But 
since  we  left  off  to  burn  incense  to  the  queen  of 
heaven,  and  to  pour  out  drink  offerings  unto  her, 
we  have  wanted  all  things,  and  have  been  con- 
sumed by  the  sword  and  by  the  famine."  ^  Here  is 
a  definite  and  significant  statement  that  the  people 
of  Israel,  including  the  princes  and  kings,  wor- 
shipped the  moon  as  did  their  fathers,  in  all  the 
cities  of  Judah,  and  also  in  the  streets  of  Jerusa- 
lem. Furthermore,  the  short  time  they  were  under 
the  influence  of  Jeremiah's  teaching  disaster  came 
to  them,  and  they  wanted  to  get  back  to  their  old 
1  Jer.  xi.  13.  2  jer.  xliv.  17,  18. 


Transition  of  Lunar  to  Regular  Seventh  Bay,    95 

ways  which  seemed  to  bring  them  so  much  pros- 
perity. About  one  hundred  years  before  this  time 
the  prophet  Isaiah  accused  the  ladies  of  Jerusalem 
of  wearing  symbols  of  the  moon  upon  their  cloth- 
ing.i  At  this  time  such  a  practice  had  a  religious 
significance,  and  the  symbols  were  not  simply 
ornaments  worn  for  their  beauty. 

We  are  without  a  definite  literal  statement  that 
the  Hebrew  Sabbath  occurred  on  the  seventh  day 
of  the  moon,  but  the  evidence  incidentally  pre- 
sented in  the  Scriptures,  leaves  it  no  longer  a  mat- 
ter of  doubt.  The  specific  evidence  in  support  of 
this  position  will  now  be  presented.  In  approach- 
ing the  subject  we  shall  first  point  out  a  number 
of  Sabbaths  fixed  on  the  new  phases  of  the  moon. 

The  new-moon  day  was  a  fixed  Sabbath  with 
the  early  Hebrews.  "Blow  up  the  trumpet  in 
the  new  moon,"  2  says  the  Psalmist.  The  writer 
of  Numbers  declares  this  statute :  "  In  the  begin- 
ning of  your  months,  ye  shall  blow  with  your 
trumpets  over  your  burnt  offerings  and  over  the 
sacrifice  of  your  peace  offering."  The  day  was 
at  least  as  sacred  as  the  Sabbath.^  The  gate  of 
the  inner  court  was  shut  for  six  days  but  it  was 
opened  on  the  Sabbath  and  the  new  moon.*     On 

1  Is.  iii.  18.  3  Num.  xxviii.  11. 

»  Ps.  Ixxxi.  3.  ""  Ezek.  xlvi.  1. 


96     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

these  two  days  the  people  worshipped  before  the 
gate  in  the  inner  court.  It  was  fitting  on  this 
day  as  well  as  on  the  Sabbath  to  visit  a  prophet  or 
messenger  of  God.  In  Amos  the  text,  "  When 
will  the  new  moon  be  gone,  that  we  may  sell  corn  ? 
and  the  Sabbath,  that  we  may  set  forth  wheat?  "  ^ 
leads  us  to  the  conclusion  that  work  was  forbid- 
den on  the  new  moon  as  well  as  the  Sabbath. 
The  sacrifices  were  even  greater  on  the  new  moon 
than  they  were  on  the  Sabbath  day,  a  fact  indi- 
cating the  great  reverence  in  which  the  new  moon 
was  held.  Here  then  are  twelve  Sabbaths  fixed 
on  the  new-moon  days  on  which  it  was  unlawful 
to  do  any  work. 

The  next  important  fixed  dates  of  the  month 
are  the  14th  or  15th,  which  marks  the  moon  at 
the  full.  The  full-moon  festival  has  been  com- 
memorated in  musical  verse  by  the  Psalmist  in 
the  words  "  Blow  up  the  trumpet  ...  at  the  full 
moon,  on  our  solemn  feast  day."  ^  A  hint  cor- 
roborating the  truth  of  the  above  is  suggested  in 
the  book  of  Proverbs :  *'  The  goodman  is  not  at 

home,  he  is  ^one  a  long  journey:  he  hath  taken  a 
bag  of  money  with  him  ;  he  will  come  home  at 
the  full  moon,"^  or  more  literally  and  properly 
the  full-moon  feast.*     This  feast  does  not  refer 

1  Amos  viii.  5.         ^  pg.  ixxxi.  3.         s  prov.  vii.  19,  20. 
*  Inter,  Critical  Com.  Prov.  by  Prof.  Toy. 


Transition  of  Lunar  to  Regular  Seventh  Day.  97 

to  the  Passover,  else  it  would  have  said  so.  It 
is  the  ordinary  full-moon  feast  which  occurs  every 
month,  and  is  consequently  a  sacred  day  or  Sab- 
bath. We  actually  find  five  of  these  fuU-moon 
feasts  mentioned,  and  their  method  of  observance 
described.  In  the  first  month  the  Passover  is 
celebrated  on  the  full  moon.  Again  in  the  second 
month  the  little  Passover  takes  place  on  the  same 
date.^  The  seventh  month  contains  a  holy  day 
which  falls  on  the  15th  of  the  month  or  on  the 
full  moon.  The  Ten  Tribes  set  their  autumnal 
festival  on  the  corresponding  day  of  the  eighth 
month.^  In  the  twelfth  month  at  the  full  moon 
we  have  another  Sabbath  on  which  occurs  the 
feast  of  Purim.  Here  are  five  fixed  Sabbaths 
occurring  on  the  full  moon. 

Sabbaths  are  also  found  in  the  second  quarter 
of  the  moon  on  the  seventh*  of  the  month.  Eze- 
kiel  records  that  the  1st,  7th,  and  the  14th  were 
of  a  sacred  character.^  He  does  not  say  posi- 
tively that  they  were  Sabbaths,  but  we  know  that 
the  1st  and  14th  were  days  of  rest,  and  it  is 
no  unwarranted  inference  to  claim  that  the  seventh 
was  of  a  similar  character.  The  seventh  day  of 
the  third  month,  being  the  day  of  Pentecost,  marks 
the  moon  when  it  is  in  the  second  quarter. 

1  2  Chron.  xxx.  2.    ^  i  Kings  xii.  32.    ^  Ezek.  xlv.  18,  20,  21. 


98      Scientific  Basis  of  Sahbath  and  Sunday. 

On  the  third  quarter  of  the  moon  we  find  fixed 
Sabbaths  again.  In  the  first  month  in  the  third 
quarter  of  the  moon,  on  the  21st  is  a  holy  day 
on  which  all  work  was  forbidden.  The  same  date 
is  observed  in  the  second  month  called  the  little 
Passover.  The  22nd  of  the  seventh  month  cor- 
responds to  the  third  quarter  of  the  moon  and  is 
a  day  sacredly  observed.  Among  the  Ten  Tribes 
the  22nd  of  the  next  month  is  a  day  of  rest. 
Here  we  have  31  sacred  days,  30  of  which  were 
fixed  Sabbaths  set  upon  the  changes  of  the  moon. 
The  Sabbaths  including  the  new  moon  were  days 
on  which  it  was  unlawful  to  work.  We  cannot 
reasonably  suppose  that  the  remaining  Sabbaths 
from  a  possible  48  could  be  other  than  fixed  Sab- 
baths. The  thought  of  the  Jews  admitting  into 
their  calendar  30  fixed  Sabbaths  and  18  change- 
able Sabbaths,  is  too  absurd  to  be  seriously  enter- 
tained. It  is  also  a  fact  of  great  significance  that 
in  the  first  month  the  1st,  7th,  14th,  and  21st 
were  sacred  days.  These  dates  indicate  that  the 
system  in  vogue  was  the  lunar  system.  While 
these  days  maintained  their  prominence  no  other 
system  would  be  tolerated. 

The  next  consideration  is  the  connection  be- 
tween the  new  moon  and  the  Sabbath.  They  are 
mentioned   together  eighteen    times  in   the  Old 


Transition  of  Lunar  to  Regular  Seventh  Day.  99 

Testament.  Up  to  the  latter  part  of  the  Exile 
their  relation  impHed  an  inseparable  connection. 
Their  intimate  association  impHes  similarity  of 
origin  and  nature.  What  was  allowed  or  forbid- 
den by  the  one,  was  allowed  or  forbidden  by  the 
other.  Both  were  sacred  days,  as  well  as  rest 
days,  and  were  on  a  par  with  each  other.  There 
could  not  have  been  two  kinds  of  sacredness 
attached  to  these  festivals  so  closely  linked  to- 
gether. What  made  the  one  sacred  made  also 
the  other  sacred.  Now  we  know  that  it  was  the 
new  moon  that  made  the  new-moon  day  sacred, 
so  the  moon  also  must  have  made  the  Sabbath 
sacred.  It  is  unreasonable  to  suppose,  that  the 
regular  Seventh  Day,  involving  a  new  system  of 
theology,,  could  prevail  with  a  people  so  wedded 
to  the  ^' queen  of  heaven."  The  new  moon  sig- 
nalized the  beginning  of  the  months,  and  the 
Sabbaths  signaHzed  the  beginning  of  the  weeks 
or  phases  of  the  moon.  They  were  all  Sabbaths 
or  rest  days,  but  the  new  moon  was  a  special 
one  until  after  the  Exile.  The  Sabbath  was  also 
called  the  Seventh  Day  because  the  new  quarter 
of  the  moon  fell  generally  on  every  seventh  day 
of  the  month.  Thus  the  new  moon  and  the 
Sabbath  was  a  phrase  standing  for  lunar  festivals. 
This  is  what  they  were  with  the  Babylonians  and 


100     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

others  with  whom  the  Hebrews  lived.  The  new 
moon  was  never  stamped  with  a  theocratic  charac- 
ter, nor  was  the  Sabbath  until  about  the  time  of 
the  Captivity.  Indeed  according  to  the  priestly 
writer  in  Exodus  the  Sabbath  was  observed  before 
they  received  a  command  on  Sinai.  They  evi- 
dently got  it  where  they  got  the  new-moon  wor- 
ship, from  other  peoples  who  worshipped  at  the 
phases  of  the  moon. 

The  first  intimation  of  a  lunar  Sabbath  among 
the  Hebrews  is  found  in  the  book  of  Kings.  The 
Shunammite,  upon  the  death  of  her  son,  makes  a 
request  of  her  husband  for  a  servant  and  an  ass  to 
go  to  a  prophet  to  have  the  boy  restored  to  Hfe. 
The  husband  answered:  "Wherefore  wilt  thou  go 
to  him  to  day?  It  is  neither  new  moon  nor  sab- 
bath." ^  Both  of  these  days  were  holy  days  and 
were  used  in  consulting  with  priests  and  prophets 
or  holy  men  of  God.  Solomon  built  the  temple 
for  the  purpose  of  offering  sacrifice  at  the  new 
moon,  on  the  Sabbath  Day,  and  also  at  the  set 
feasts.^  The  book  of  Amos  is  the  next  witness 
concerning  the  new  moon  and  the  Sabbath. 
"When  will  the  new  moon  be  gone,"  it  makes 
the  people  say,  "that  we  may  sell  corn?  and  the 
Sabbath,  that  we  may  set  forth  wheat."  ^    Hosea 

1  2  Kings  iv.  23.  ^  2  Chron.  ii.  4.         ^  Amos  viii.  5. 


Transition  of  Lunar  to  Regular  Seventh  Day.  101 

speaks  of  the  new  moon  and  the  Sabbath  as  days 
of  mirth  and  feasting.  ^^I  will  also  cause  all  her 
mirth  to  cease,  her  feasts,  her  new  moons,  and  her 
Sabbaths,"  etc.^  The  same  connection  existed  in 
the  time  of  Isaiah,  judging  from  the  words, 
"Bring  no  more  vain  oblations  to  me;  new  moon 
and  Sabbath,  the  caUing  of  assembhes, —  I  can- 
not," etc.^  Even  as  late  as  the  Exile  the  Sabbath 
is  not  disassociated  from  the  moon.  This  is  in- 
ferred from  the  fact  that  the  East  gate  of  the 
inner  court  was  shut  six  days  but  was  open  on 
the  new  moon  and  the  Sabbath.^ 

That  the  Sabbath  is  a  lunar  festival  is  sup- 
ported not  only  by  Scripture  but  by  many  of  our 
modern  scholars.  Brittany  says:  "The  Sabbath 
was  no  doubt  related  to  a  very  general  Oriental 
practice  as  old  as  Vedism  and  Zoroastrianism  and 
very  early  in  use  among  the  Semites,  of  arranging 
their  rehgious  festivals  of  meeting  in  accordance 
with  the  four  quarters  of  the  moon."  ^  Referring 
to  the  lunar  origin  of  the  ancient  Sabbath,  Well- 
hausen  declares  that,  "no  other  explanation  can 
be  discovered."^  Tirin  asserts,  "The  Jews  ob- 
served the  lunar  system,  and  their  months  con- 
sisted of  twenty-nine  and  thirty  days  alternately. 

1  Hos.  ii.  11.  2  isa.  i.  13.  ^  gzek.  xlvi.  1. 

*  Judaism  and  Christianity,  p.  34.    ^  History  of  Israel,  p.  112. 


102    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

Hence  the  feast  of  the  new  moon  came  to  be 
called  the  thirtieth  Sabbath,  that  is  the  Sabbath 
of  the  thirtieth  day."^  The  same  truth  is  borne 
out  by  R.  A.  Proctor,  the  distinguished  astrono- 
mer. He  affirms  that  "the  Jemsh  Sabbath  is  the 
quarter  month  rest  day."  ^  Ewald  adds  his  testi- 
mony on  this  subject  in  the  words,  "We  have 
already  seen  that  the  week  of  seven  days  as  the 
approximate  quarter  of  a  month,,  had  been  long  es- 
tablished in  pre-Mosaic  times  both  in  Israel  and 
among  many  other  nations."  ^  This  position  is  also 
endorsed  by  such  scholars  as  Prof.  Toy,  Prof.  Jas- 
trow,  and  W.  R.  Smith. 

The  following  considerations,  being  a  summary 
of  the  foregoing,  are  presented  here  showing  the 
grounds  for  the  position  taken  on  the  early 
Hebrew  Sabbath.  (1)  We  have  shown  that  the 
IsraeUtes  adopted  their  rehgious  customs,  in  a 
great  degree  or  wholly,  from  the  tribes  with 
whom  they  were  associated.  (2)  According  to 
the  Scriptures  moon-worship  was  actually  prac- 
ticed all  over  Judah  a  long  period  of  time  before 
the  Exile.  (3)  The  Scriptures  inform  us  that 
the  Israelites  observed  the  new-moon  day  and 
also  the  full-moon  day.     (4)  We  also  have  from 

1  The  Great  Pyramid,  p.  252.     ^  The  Great  Pyramid,  p.  160. 
3  Antiquities  of  Israel,  p.  350. 


Transition  of  Lunar  to  Regular  Seventh  Day.  103 

the  Scriptures  the  fact  that  31  religious  days  out 
of  a  possible  48  were  on  the  phases  of  the  moon, 
and  that  30  of  them  were,  by  actual  statement  or 
implication,  sacred  rest-days  or  Sabbaths.  (5) 
The  intimate  connection  between  the  new  moon 
and  the  Sabbath  reveals  their  similarity  of  nature 
and  origin,  and  establishes  the  conclusion  that 
they  were  simply  lunar  festivals  occurring  at  the 
phases  of  the  moon  similar  to  the  custom  of  other 
peoples.  Here  is  a  chain  of  evidence  that  is  not 
lacking  in  a  single  point  to  establish  the  proposi- 
tion that  the  Sabbath  before  the  Exile  fell  on  the 
changes  of  the  moon. 

After  the  Babylonish  Captivity  the  Sabbath 
occurred  on  the  regular  seventh  day  of  the  cal- 
endar. The  chief  cause  of  this  change  was  the 
identification  of  the  Sabbath  with  the  creation 
rest  day.  As  Goldzilier  says,  by  the  story  of 
creation,  the  Sabbath  was  established  on  entirely 
new  grounds.^  The  second  cause  was  the  desire 
on  the  part  of  the  Jews  to  hold  the  Sabbath  in 
contrast  with  that  of  their  hated  captors.  The 
priestly  writer  represents  the  manna  as  falhng 
every  six  days  with  a  rest  on  the  seventh.  The 
time  between  the  Passover  and  the  Pentecost  was 
seven  weeks  and  this  was  exactly  fifty  days. 
^  Mythology  among  the  Hebrews,  p.  324. 


104    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

This  is  conclusive  evidence  that  the  Sabbath  was 
the  regular  seventh  day  and  had  no  connection 
with  the  moon.  The  number  seven  was  appKed 
to  the  days,  making  the  Sabbath  day;  to  the 
months,  making  the  seventh  month  of  special  re- 
ligious significance;  to  the  year,  making  the  Sab- 
batic year;  to  the  Sabbatic  years,  making  the  year 
of  Jubilee. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Sabbath  before  the  Exile 
was  the  seventh  day  of  the  moon,  and  the  Sabbath 
after  the  Exile  was  the  seventh  day  of  time;  it 
follows  therefore  that  the  change  must  have  taken 
place  within  the  hmits  of  this  remarkable  period. 
This  was  the  great  transition  period  of  the  history 
of  the  Jews.  It  was  the  birthday  of  Judaism.  In 
this  period  most  of  the  institutions  were  recast  and 
stamped  with  a  theocratic  character  and  adapted 
to  the  new  conditions.  It  was  fortunate  for  the 
Israehtes,  for  it  took  them  away  from  the  Holy 
City,  the  temple  and  its  rites,  and  discipHned  them 
into  a  spiritual  religion  apart  from  outward  cere- 
monies. Prayer  now  took  the  place  of  incense, 
fasts  took  the  place  of  feasts,  and  worship  to  a 
limited  extent  took  the  place  of  sacrifices.  In  this 
period  the  Jews  for  the  first  time  became  worship- 
pers of  one  God  and  him  only.  'Tis  true  the 
prophets  before   the   Exile,   while   they   did   not 


Transition  of  Lunar  to  Regular  Seventh  Day.  105 

deny  the  existence  of  the  gods  of  the  nations, 
exhorted  the  Israehtes  to  be  loyal  to  Yahweh 
alone,  but  such  teaching  did  not  take  deep  root 
nor  make  a  lasting  impression  upon  them  till  the 
Exile.  The  other  gods  were  now  called  idols. 
From  henotheism  Israel  passed  into  pure  mono- 
theism which  at  this  time  became  an  estabUshed 
institution.  With  such  great  reverence  did  they 
hold  to  Yahweh,  the  Jewish  name  of  God,  that 
they  refused  to  pronounce  or  even  write  it,  and 
substituted  the  name  of  Jehovah  in  its  place. 
The  new  year  was  made  to  commence  in  the 
spring,  whereas  before  the  Captivity  it  commenced 
in  the  fall. 

When  this  people  was  taken  into  captivity  their 
pubHc  Hfe  ceased,  so  the  only  thing  left  for  the 
scribes,  priests  and  prophets,  was  study,  medita- 
tion, and  writing.  The  Levites  or  priests  we  are 
told  became  Scribes.  Hence  a  great  Hterary  ac- 
tivity sprang  up  which  characterized  the  whole 
period.  These  writers  copied  and  collected  rec- 
ords of  wars,  heroes,  kings,  and  nations.  Other 
hterary  materials  such  as  hymns,  prayers,  poetry, 
proverbs,  and  traditional  stories,  also  enhsted  their 
interest  and  the  world  has  been  blessed  thereby. 
Their  contact  with  the  Royal  Library  of  Babylon 
contributed  very  largely  to  the  literary  treasures 


106    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

of  the  Jews.  This  hbrary,  says  Kent,  possessed 
a  Hterature,  covering  a  period  of  over  3000  years 
and  consisted  of  royal  decrees,  national  annals, 
hymns,  mythological  tales,  epics,  magic  formulas, 
and  laws.^  It  was  a  luxury  whose  influence  upon 
this  people  is  not  easy  to  estimate. 

The  activities  of  the  Jews  followed  along  an- 
other hne.  While  they  were  in  their  captive 
state,  they  meditated  upon  their  past  sins  for 
which  they  were  then  receiving  divine  retribution, 
thought  out  the  right  course  of  action  for  the 
future,  and  determined  on  a  new  life.  They  con- 
fidently looked  forward  to  their  return  from  cap- 
tivity, so  they  recast  old  laws,  developed  new 
ones,  and  outlined  a  system  of  worship  for  the 
new  theocracy  to  be  established  in  their  old 
Judean  home.  Over  half  of  the  books  of  the 
Old  Testament  were  either  written  or  recast  dur- 
ing this  trying  period  of  their  life.^ 

It  was  in  this  great  Theological  School  that  the 
change  was  made  regarding  the  Sabbath.  The 
transition  did  not  take  place  in  the  first  part  of 
this   dark   period,    for   in   Ezekiel's   writings   we 

^  History  of  the  Jewish  People,  p.  61  (Babylonia,  Persian, 
and  Greek  periods). 

2  Ibid,  p.  65. 


Transition  of  Lunar  to  Regular  Seventh  Day.  107 

find  the  Sabbath  still  connected  with  the  moon.* 
When  Ezra  returned  to  the  Holy  Land  he  brought 
with  him  the  law  book  which  contained  the  new 
law  bearing  on  the  Sabbath,  and  it  was  then  and 
there  put  into  operation.  This  law  must  have 
been  made  somewhere  between  B.C.  538  and  the 
year  B.C.  458,  as  that  was  the  time  in  which  the 
school  represented  by  Ezra  did  its  effective  work.^ 
The  prophets  just  before  the  Captivity  and  those 
immediately  after  the  first  return  give  no  evidence 
of  the  strict  Priestly  Code.  The  severe  laws  of 
the  priest  were,  then,  made  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  time  of  this  School  and  were  ready  for  exe- 
cution when  Ezra  entered  the  Promised  Land, 
B.C.  458.  The  Sabbath  was  then  changed  from 
the  seventh  day  of  the  moon  to  the  seventh 
day  of  the  calendar,  a  short  time  previous  to 
B.C.  458. 

This  contrast  between  the  Sabbath  of  the  Exile 
and  the  Sabbath  of  pre-exiHc  days  is  clearly 
pointed  out  by  Montefiore  in  his  Hibbard  Lec- 
tures. He  unhesitatingly  asserts  that  the  "  priest's 
sabbath  is  very  different  from  the  sabbath  of 
the  Book  of  the  Covenant  or  Deuteronomy." 
"There,"  he  says,  "the  sabbath  was  instituted  for 

*  Ezek.  xlvi.  1. 

2  History  of  Israel  by  Kueuen,  Vol.  II,,  152. 


108    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

man's  sake:  here  —  and  this  is  the  true  opposi- 
tion —  it  is  instituted  for  God's  sake.  It  is  con- 
nected with  the  creation.  .  .  .  The  sabbaths  are 
Yahveh's  sabbaths,  and  their  observance  is  the 
observance  of  a  perpetual  sign  that  'ye  may  know 
that  I  am  Yahveh  that  doth  sanctify  you.'  Thus 
the  social  character  of  the  sabbath  is  ignored:  it 
becomes  purely  rehgious."  ^  He  continues,  here 
as  well  as  elsewhere  in  his  lectures,  to  detail  the 
great  change  that  the  Sabbath  underwent  in  the 
time  of  the  Israel  Captivity.  His  pubUshed  views 
of  the  transition  could  not  be  better  presented 
substantially  than  through  a  note  of  Prof.  Jastrow's 
in  connection  with  a  reference  from  Montefiore's 
lectures  on  The  Origin  and  Foundation  of  the 
Hebrew  ReUgion.  "Not  much  is  to  be  gleaned 
from  the  scanty  notices  about  the  sabbath  found 
in  the  prophets.  The  two  centuries  preceding  the 
Babylonian  exile  appear  to  have  been  a  period  of 
transition.  The  old  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  propitia- 
tion was  dying  out.  From  Amos  (8:  5)  one 
might  conclude  that  the  Sabbath  and  new  moon 
had  become  market  days.  The  notice  in  Hosea 
(2:  13)  furnishes  no  clew.  Jeremiah  (17:  21-24) 
foreshadows  the  distinctively  Jewish  Sabbath. 
The  later  Isaiah  (56:  2-6;  58:  13-14;  66:  23) 
1  Hibbard  Lectures,  '92,  p.  338. 


Transition  of  Lunar  to  Regular  Seventh  Day.  109 

points  in  the  same  direction,  while  in  Ezekiel 
(46:  1-12:  22:  26)  the  transition  has  taken 
place."  ^  It  might  be  observed  that  the  Sabbath  in 
all  its  features  did  not  receive  its  final  touches  in 
Ezekiel's  time  as  the  above  quotation  intimates, 
for  at  that  time  the  Sabbath  was  still  in  connec- 
tion with  the  moon.  We  close  the  chapter  with 
a  quotation  from  Prof.  Morris  Jastrow,  who  has 
written  one  of  the  most  scholarly  articles  on  the 
subject. 

"The  Sabbath  of  the  Hebrews  was  originally  such  a 
Sabbathon —  a  day  of  propitiation  and  pacification,  marked 
by  rites  of  an  atonement  character. " 

"At  this  stage  in  the  development  of  the  institution,  it 
was  celebrated  at  intervals  of  seven  days,  corresponding 
with  changes  in  the  moon's  phases,  and  was  identical  in 
character  with  the  four  days  in  each  month  (7th,  14th, 
21st,  and  28)  that  the  Babylonians  regarded  as  days  which 
had  to  be  converted  into  days  of  pacification. " 

"The  introduction,  in  consequence  of  profound  changes 
in  religious  conceptions  among  the  Hebrews,  of  the  cus- 
tom of  celebrating  the  Sabbath  every  seventh  day,  irres- 
pective of  the  relationship  of  the  day  to  the  moon's  phases, 
led  to  a  complete  separation  from  the  ancient  view  of  the 
Sabbath,  while  the  introduction,  at  a  still  later  period,  of 
the  doctrine  that  the  divine  work  of  creation  was  com- 
pleted in  six  days  removed  the  Hebrew  Sabbath  still 

^  Original  character  of  the  Hebrew  Sabbath,  American 
Journal  of  Theology,  April,  '98. 


110    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

further  from  the  point  at  which  the  development  of  the 
corresponding  Babylonian  institution  ceased. " 

"Lastly,  to  put  the  contrast  concisely  between  the 
Sabbath  in  its  original  form  and  the  fully  developed  post- 
exilic  institution,  we  might  say  that  the  old  Sabbath  was 
merely  a  sabbathon,  one  sabbathbn  among  many  others, 
identical  in  character  and  spirit  with  a  Babylonian  um- 
nuh-hbbi  or  sabattum;  the  developed  institution  was 
unique  in  its  character,  with  rest  from  all  kinds  of  work  as 
its  central  idea,  a  day  sacred  to  Yahweh  who  had  created 
the  world  in  six  days  and  who  had  himself  set  the  example 
for  all  times  by  resting  on  the  seventh  day.  These  two 
features  —  (a)  a  day  of  absolute  rest  and  (6)  the  doctrine 
upon  which  this  ordinance  is  based  —  represented  the  dis- 
tinctively Jewish  contribution  to  the  Babylonian-Hebraic 
sabattum.  Between  the  old  sabbathon  and  the  new  Sab- 
bath, however,  there  lies  the  growth  of  the  Hebrew 
people  from  a  semi-primitive  condition  of  religious 
thought  to  the  advanced  belief  which  controls  and  domi- 
nates the  entire  pentateuchal  legislation  in  its  final  — 
its  present  —  shape. "  ^ 

1  Original  character  of  the  Hebrew  Sabbath,  American 
Journal  of  Theology,  April,  '98. 


Nature  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  111 


CHAPTER  V. 

NATURE   OF  THE  JEWISH   SABBATH. 

In  dealing  with  this  subject  we  shall  consider 
separately  the  nature  of  the  Sabbath  before  the 
Exile,  from  that  which  followed  the  Exile.  As 
suggested  in  the  last  chapter,  the  experience  of 
the  Jews  in  Babylon  produced  a  decided  change 
in  the  character  of  the  day.  Before  the  Captivity 
the  Hebrews  kept  the  seventh  day  of  the  moon. 
It  was  observed  in  about  the  same  manner  and  in 
the  same  spirit  as  by  the  Canaanites  and  the  Baby- 
lonians, at  least  until  the  ninth  century  before 
Christ.  It  was  a  kind  of  pacification  day  with  a 
feast  as  the  principal  feature.  If  work  was  per- 
formed on  that  day  bad  luck  was  supposed  to 
follow  as  a  pimishment  from  the  god  whose  anger 
had  been  kindled.  The  conmiands  were  simply 
precautionary.  "Remember"  affixed  to  a  com- 
mand, means  "be  on  the  look  out  for."  No 
penalty  was  associated  with  the  violation  of  the 
law  at  this  time. 


112    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

About  the  ninth  century  b.c.  a  change  set  in 
and  the  chosen  people  of  God  were  to  rest  for  the 
sake  of  the  rest.  A  transition  is  beginning  to 
show  itself.  The  fear  and  reverence  for  the  gods 
of  the  nations,  are  now  giving  way  to  the  God  of 
the  Hebrews.  The  day  is  observed  now,  not  so 
much  to  pacify  gods,  that  are  growing  into  dis- 
favor, but  for  the  benefit  of  physical  rest.  But 
among  a  people  so  permeated  with  religious  senti- 
ments the  day  could  not  long  remain  one  of  mere 
physical  recreation.  Some  other  incentive  rather 
than  that  of  rest  must  be  associated  with  the  day. 
In  the  seventh  century  in  Josiah's  reign  that 
incentive  was  found. ^  It  then  became  a  day  to 
commemorate  the  deUverance  of  the  Israehtes 
from  the  Egyptians.  From  a  physical  rest  day 
it  was  changed  into  a  memorial  day,  a  national 
hohday.  The  feast  occupied  the  principal  place 
on  this  sacred  day  until  the  Jews  were  taken  into 
captivity.  In  the  book  of  Samuel  this  statement 
appears:  "And  David  said  unto  Jonathan,  Be- 
hold to-morrow  is  the  new  moon  and  I  should  not 
fail  to  sit  with  the  king  at  meat."  "And  when 
the  new  moon  was  come  the  king  sat  him  down 
to  eat  meat. "  ^  This  evidently  was  the  feast  of 
the  new  moon.    As  the  Sabbath  and   the  new 

»  2  Ch.  xxxiv.  14.  ^  gam.  xx.  5-24. 


Nature  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  113 

moon  were  on  a  par  regarding  their  nature  and 
observance,  the  custom  of  feasting  must  also  be 
considered  as  prevaiHng  on  the  Sabbath.  Merry- 
making was  quite  within  the  bounds  of  legitimate 
diversions  on  this  holy  day.  Hosea,  who  Uved  at 
the  time  of  the  Assyrian  invasion,  speaks  thus  con- 
cerning the  day:  "I  will  also  cause  all  her  mirth 
to  cease,  her  feasts,  her  new  moons,  and  her  Sab- 
baths, and  all  her  solemn  assembUes."*  In  this 
quotation,  feasts,  new  moons,  and  Sabbaths,  are  so 
associated  with  mirth  as  to  exhibit  the  Sabbath 
as  a  day  of  mirth.  The  Talmud  conveys  the  same 
idea. 

It  appears  to  be  a  day  on  which  prophets  and 
men  of  God  were  consulted  on  matters  of  spiritual 
interest.  The  man  of  Shunam  when  requested  to 
send  for  the  prophet  Elijah  to  restore  his  deceased 
son,  replied,  "Wherefore  wilt  thou  go  to  him 
to-day?  it  is  neither  new  moon  nor  Sabbath." 
Things  of  public  interest,  without  condemna- 
tion, were  performed  on  the  Sabbath  Day.  King 
Jehoash  was  crowned  king  in  the  temple  courts 
on  the  Sabbath  Day.^  No  special  sacrifices  were 
offered  on  this  day,  and  no  worship  different  from 
other  days,  was  engaged  in  by  the  Jews  before 
the  Exile.    No  cast-iron  rules  were  bound  upon  the 

»  Hos.  ii.  11.  3  2  Kings,  xi.  Chapter. 


114    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

Seventh  Day  of  the  early  Hebrews.  The  Puritan 
Sabbath  had  yet  to  come. 

The  same  spirit  was  felt  regarding  the  new 
moon  as  the  Sabbath.  In  fact  it  was  a  kind  of 
Sabbath  as  all  lunar  feasts  were.  The  same 
things  were  prohibited  and  the  same  things  were 
indulged  in  on  both  these  days.  "When  will 
the  new  moon  be  gone,  that  we  may  sell  corn;  and 
the  Sabbath,  that  we  may  set  forth  wheat/'  says 
Amos,  signifying  the  similarity  of  the  two  days. 

The  conception  of  the  Sabbath  was  all  changed 
after  the  Exile.  That  brief  period  in  a  captor's 
land  worked  a  marvelous  revolution  in  the  reli- 
gious conceptions  and  institutions  of  the  Jews. 
After  this  event  the  distinguishing  feature  of 
the  holy  day  was  absolute  rest.  Shortly  before 
the  Captivity  a  change  is  plainly  observable. 
The  writer  of  the  Little  Book  of  the  Covenant 
emphasizes  the  rest  element  for  its  own  sake.  It 
seems  to  partake  of  the  nature  of  an  humani- 
tarian institution.  But  the  priestly  writer  far 
exceeded  these  bounds.  In  his  view  the  rest 
should  be  absolute,  not  primarily  for  the  benefit 
of  man  but  for  the  glory  and  honor  of  God. 
Absolute  rest,  after  the  example  of  God,  was  the 
essential  feature  of  the  post-exilic  Sabbath.  The 
word    Sabbath    is    the    Hebrew    word    for    rest. 


Nature  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  115 

Among  the  Assyrians  the  word  Sabbath,  or  more 
properly  sabbathon,  occurs  under  the  form  of 
"Sabattum"  or  "Sabattuv"  and  is  explained  as 
"a  day  of  rest  for  the  heart."  —  "This  may  be 
positively  inferred  from  a  passage  of  a  fragment 
of  a  lexicon  of  Assyrian  synonyms  wherein  '  Yum- 
nuh-hbbi'  is  translated  'Sabattuv'  and  means  'a 
day  of  repose  for  the  heart.'"  ^  This  "repose  of 
the  heart"  has  been  found  from  a  number  of 
parallel  expressions,  to  mean  rest  or  cessation 
from  anger,  referring  specially  to  the  anger  of 
the  gods.^  The  Accadian  word  for  Sabbath  is 
"  Udu-khul-gal "  which  is  equivalent  to  the  Latin 
"Dies  nefastus"  and  is  rendered  unlawful  day. 
In  a  biUngual  syllabary  which  gives  the  meaning 
of  Accadian  words  in  the  Assyrian,  the  Acca- 
dian word,  mentioned  above,  is  rendered  "Yimi- 
sulumi"  and  means  "a  day  of  completion."  For 
a  thorough  and  xritical  treatment  of  the  subject 
the  reader  is  referred  to  Prof.  Morris  Jastrow's 
article  on  the  "Original  Character  of  the  Hebrew 
Sabbath."  This  writer  asserts  that  the  Babylo- 
nian Sabattum  is  equivalent,  not  to  the  Sabbath 
but  to  the  Hebrew  sabbathon  and  was  understood 
as  a  pacification  or  atonement  day.    The  Hebrew 

*  Beginnings  of  History,  p.  249. 

^  American  Journal  of  Theology,  April  '98. 


116    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

word  Sabbath  was  decidedly  different  from  this 
and  meant  simply  physical  refet. 

The  Sabbath  was  to  be  kept  on  the  seventh  day 
of  the  calendar  regardless  of  the  moon.  It  was 
no  longer  a  lunar  day  but  a  day  specially  belong- 
ing to  God.  Not  only  was  man  required  to  keep 
this  day  separate  or  holy,  but  his  ox,  his  ass  and 
his  cattle  were  required  to  do  Ukewise.  The  land 
also  had  to  keep  a  holy  rest  unto  God  every 
seven  years  besides  the  fiftieth  year. 

The  day  was  hedged  about  with  many  restric- 
tions. No  manner  of  work  was  to  be  done  on 
that  day.^  Not  even  a  fire  could  be  lighted.^ 
No  gathering  of  sticks  was  to  be  permitted.^ 
None  were  allowed  to  go  out  of  their  places  on 
the  Sabbath. "*  All  burden  bearing  was  to  be  laid 
aside  on  this  sacred  day  and  traders  were  not 
permitted  to  enter  the  gates  of  Jerusalem.^  It 
was  considered  no  longer  a  day  of  mirth  or  a 
feast  day,  but  rather  a  solemn  day  of  God.  It 
ceased  to  be  a  holiday  of  man  and  became  a  holy 
day  of  God. 

In  the  time  of  Ezekiel  it  was  a  sign  day.  It 
was  the  one  test  that  determined  the  Jews'  fidelity 

>  Ex.  xxxi.  14.  *  Ex.  xvi.  29. 

»  Ex.  xxxv.  3.  "  Neh.  xiii.  19. 

»  Num.  XV.  32. 


Nature  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  117 

to  their  own  Creator.  To  rest  on  that  day 
was  the  method  of  showing  loyalty  and  love  to 
Yahweh  their  God. 

It  was  no  longer  a  physical  rest  day  simply, 
but  a  day  that  was  absolutey  owned  by  God 
himself.  The  idea  of  ownership  gained  the  su- 
premacy when  the  Sabbath  was  connected  with 
the  creation  rest  of  God.  When  God  rested  the 
Seventh  Day,  that  day  was  his  rest,  separate  or 
holy  unto  him,  therefore  belonging  to  him.  Extra 
sacrifices  were  presented  morning  and  evening  on 
the  Sabbath.  Worship  was  now  introduced  for 
the  first  time.  In  Leviticus  we  read,  ''  Six  days 
shall  work  be  done,  but  the  seventh  day  is  a 
sabbath  of  complete  rest,  a  holy  rehgious  meet- 
ing." This  holy  convocation  or  religious  meeting 
developed  into  the  synagogue. 

Now  we  notice  that  there  is  a  penalty  inserted 
in  the  law  for  the  violation  of  the  Sabbath.  The 
Priestly  Code  demands  the  death  of  the  culprit 
who  breaks  the  holy  day  of  God.  We  have  now 
got  the  Puritan  Sabbath.  From  this  time  the 
day  continued  to  be  hedged  about  with  legal 
restrictions  until  there  arose  the  Rabbinical  Sab- 
bath. According  to  the  Rabbins'  view  of  the  law, 
man  was  made  for  the  Sabbath,  instead  of  the 
Sabbath  for  man.    This  legal  period  cubninated 


118    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

with  thirty-nine  different  things  prohibited  on  the 
Seventh  Day.  The  puerihty  of  extreme  Rabbini- 
cal legahsm  is  seen  in  such  restrictions  as  these: 
"None  should  eat  an  egg  that  is  laid  on  the 
Sabbath,  as  the  hen  violated  the  fourth  command- 
ment in  doing  work  on  the  Sabbath."  When 
Christ  with  his  disciples  passed  through  the  corn 
fields,  the  third  rule  was  violated  in  plucking 
corn,  as  it  was  equivalent  to  threshing.  Walking 
on  the  grass  was  also  prohibited  for  a  Uke  reason. 
Even  having  nails  in  one's  shoes  while  walking 
was  considered  equivalent  to  carrying  a  burden. 
One  could  mark  down  one  letter  of  the  alphabet, 
without  violating  the  conception  of  the  law,  but 
it  was  wrong  to  mark  down  two  letters.  The 
Jews  were  not  allowed  to  carry  a  mouthful  of 
food  two  steps  on  the  Sabbath  Day,  as  it  would 
be  bearing  a  burden.  So  strict  were  they  in  this 
period,  that  they  allowed  the  city  of  Jerusalem 
to  be  stormed  by  Pompey,  without  making  a  show 
of  resistance.  In  the  time  of  Antiochus  Epiph- 
anes  the  Jews  permitted  themselves  to  be  cut 
down  wholesale  and  even  burned  before  they 
would  resist  or  flee,  because  they  feared  to  dis- 
honor the  Holy  Sabbath.  Strange  as  it  may  seem, 
in  this  same  period  the  Jews  themselves  made  an 
effort  to  do  away  with  the  Sabbath.^  Possibly  it 
*  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  192. 


Nature  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  119 

was  due  to  the  ridicule  that  they  were  subject  to 
while  under  the  Greek  administration.  This  Rab- 
binical Sabbath  was  in  vogue  during  the  days  of 
Christ  and  his  disciples. 


120    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabhath  and  Sunday. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DURATION  OF  THE   JEWISH   SABBATH. 

Was  the  Jewish  Sabbath  to  be  perpetually 
binding?  Many  assume  the  position  that  the 
Jewish  Sabbath  is  now  binding  because  a  "for- 
ever" is  found  in  connection  with  the  Sabbath 
conunand.  They  were  to  observe  it  throughout 
their  generations  forever.  But  what  is  impHed 
in  this  injunction?  The  same  command  is  given 
in  relation  to  the  Passover:  "And  this  day  shall 
be  unto  you  for  a  memorial;  and  ye  shall  keep  it 
a  feast  to  the  Lord  throughout  your  generations; 
ye  shall  keep  it  a  feast  by  an  ordinance  for  ever."  i 
The  same  is  said  about  the  feast  of  unleavened 
bread:  "And  ye  shall  observe  the  feast  of  un- 
leavened bread;  for  in  this  same  day  I  brought 
your  armies  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  ;  therefore 
shall  ye  observe  this  day  in  your  generations  by 
an  ordinance  for  ever."^  The  Covenant  of  Cir- 
cumcision was  to  be  everlasting,  which  signified 

»  Ex.  xii.  14.  ^  Ex.  xii.  17. 


Duration  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  121 

that  it  was  to  endure  forever.*  The  same  idea 
obtains  in  relation  to  the  atonement,^  burnt  offer- 
ings/ oil  for  lamps/  washing  of  hands  and  feet/ 
fringes  on  the  borders  of  garments/  and  many 
other  ceremonies  of  a  similar  character. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  word  rendered  "for- 
ever" is  in  Hebrew  "olam/'  meaning  indefinite 
or  uncertain  time,  except  when  used  in  connec- 
tion with  God;  then  it  strictly  means  eternal. 
The  same  word  is  used  in  the  text,  "I  have  long 
time  holden  my  peace."  Here  it  means  Hmited 
time  or  during  one's  life  time.  The  same  word 
is  used  in  the  sixty-first  chapter  of  Isaiah/  where 
it  means  "old."  Again  "olam"  is  the  Hebrew 
word  rendered  "old"  in  the  phrase  "build  the 
old  waste  places."^  Nothing  more  can  be  postu- 
lated for  "olam"  than  "a  long  time"  when  not 
directly  applied  to  God.  If  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
is  adhered  to,  because  there  is  an  injunction  to 
observe  it  forever,  by  what  authority  are  these 
other  things,  mentioned  above,  left  undone  at  the 
present  day?  Many  hold  strongly  to  the  Sabbath 
because  it  was  a  sign  between  God  and  his  people; 
and  for  this  reason,  it  was  obHgatory  upon  them 

1  Gen.  xvii.  13.  *  Lev.  xxiv.  3-5.       '  Is.  Ixd.  4. 

2  Ex.  XXX.  10.  5  Ex.  XXX.  21.  »  Is.  Iviii.  12. 

3  Ex.  xxix.  42.  «  Num.  xv.  38. 


122    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

for  all  time  to  come.  But  circumcision  was  also 
a  sign  between  God  and  his  people.  If  we  hold 
to  the  one  because  it  is  a  sign,  we  must  hold  to 
the  other.  If  we  refuse  to  obey  one,  for  the 
same  reason  we  must  decHne  to  obey  the  other. 

The  Jewish  Sabbath  is  not  a  transference  from 
the  heathen  Sabbath,  nor  does  it  look  in  that 
direction  for  its  authority;  the  latter  simply 
formed  a  model  and  the  remainder  was  furnished 
by  the  Hebrews  themselves.  The  purpose,  spirit, 
and  ceremonies  were  all  different  from  that  of 
the  heathen.  The  heathen  holy  day  was  prin- 
cipally a  feast-day  with  the  remaining  time  given 
up  to  recreation  and  amusement,  but  the  Hebrew 
holy  day  was  a  rest-day  in  honor  of  God. 


PART  III.  •    I 

i 
THE  SEVENTH  DAY  OF  THE  CHRISTIANS.  ] 


123 


CHAPTER  I. 

REFERENCES  TO  THE  LORD^S  DAY  IN  THE  NEW 
TESTAMENT. 

The  resurrection  of  Christ  took  place  on  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  and  on  that  day  the  as- 
sembled disciples  were  favored  with  a  visit  from 
their  risen  Lord  and  Master.  The  Sacred  Record 
says,  "And  very  early  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  they  come  to  the  tomb  when  the  sun  was 
risen."  ^  When  they  came  they  found  the  stone 
rolled  away  which  closed  the  entrance  to  the  tomb. 
Upon  entering,  an  angel  conveyed  the  startling  in- 
telUgence,  "He  is  risen."  He  is  reported  as  ap- 
pearing five  times  on  that  historic  day,  in  one  case 
to  two  of  his  disciples  as  they  journeyed  to  Emmaus, 
and  again,  later  in  the  evening,  to  the  eleven  in  a 
secluded  room  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem. 

The  Uttle  group  of  followers  met  again  with 
Christ  on  the  next  first  day  of  the  week.  "And 
after  eight  days  again,"  writes  John,  "his  disciples 

1  Mark  xvi.  2. 
125 


126    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

were  within."  ^  If  this  text  were  interpreted  Hter- 
ally,  we  would  be  warranted  in  inferring  that  the 
meeting  was  on  the  second  day  of  the  week.  A 
number  of  similar  expressions  indicate  that  the 
days  were  reckoned  inclusively.  The  length  of 
time  that  Christ  lay  in  the  grave  is  expressed  as 
follows:  "in  three  days"^-  "the  third  day"^; 
"after  three  days."  ^  These  expressions  are  in- 
tended to  convey  the  same  idea.  The  Levitical  law 
states:  "In  the  eighth  day  the  flesh  of  his  fore- 
skin shall  be  circumcised"^;  but  we  are  told  in 
Luke  that  "When  eight  days  were  fulfilled  (that 
.is  after  eight  days)  for  circumcising  him,  his  name 
was  called  Jesus."  ®  Here  the  same  thing  occurs, 
that  is,  representing  a  period  as  past  when  the 
event  happens  on  the  last  day  of  the  period  men- 
tioned. The  modern  writer  would  say,  "On  that 
day  week  they  met  again."  It  seems  that  the 
Jewish  writer  included  parts  of  two  resurrec- 
tion days,  counting  the  first  Sunday  and  the 
succeeding  one,  thus  making  the  second  resur- 
rection day  the  eighth  day  after.  An  "Eighth 
day  after,"  is  an  idiomatic  expression  sig- 
nifying "that  day  week."  The  "eighth  day" 
was  a  familiar  term  in  early  times  among  the 

1  John  XX.  26.  ^  jbij.  xvi.  21.  ^  Lev.  xii.  3. 

2  Math.  xxvi.  61.      "  Mark  viii.  31.  «  Luke  ii.  21. 


The  Lord's  Day  in  the  New  Testament,     127 

Apostolic  Fathers,   signifying  the  day  after  the 
seventh. 

A  point  worthy  of  note  here,  is  the  mention  of 
the  disciples  meeting  together  in  the  evening  of 
Christ's  resurrection.  Now,  the  Jewish  day  com- 
mences at  sundown,  and  according  to  their  reckon- 
ing it  would  be  the  second  day  of  the  week.  The 
text  directly  states  that  they  met  the  first  day  of 
the  week  in  the  evening.  It  is  evident  that 
another  method  of  reckoning  time  was  used,  no 
doubt  that  of  the  Romans  who  commenced  their 
day  at  midnight. 

The  author  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  records 
this  statement:  "And  upon  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  when  we  were  gathered  together  to  break 
bread,  Paul  discoursed  with  them."  ^  The  intro- 
duction of  the  words,  "when  we  were  gathered 
together  to  break  bread''  impUes  that  it  was  a 
customary  meeting  on  a  certain  day  of  the  week, 
and  at  a  certain  time  of  the  day,  understood  by 
the  writer  and  the  persons  written  to.  If  it  had 
been  a  special  meeting  called  for  the  occasion,  the 
wording  would  have  indicated  that  fact.  The 
diction  compels  us  to  conclude,  that  the  Christians 
met  together  regularly  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week. 

^  Acts  XX.  7. 


128    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

A  passage  in  1  Corinthians,  bearing  on  this  sub- 
ject, reads  as  follows:  "Upon  the  first  day  of  the 
week  let  each  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store  as  he 
may  prosper,  that  no  collection  be  made  when  I 
come. "  *  At  first  sight  this  does  not  seem  to  add 
much  to  the  theme  under  consideration,  as  it 
simply  records  the  fact  that  a  certain  amount 
for  the  saints  of  Jerusalem  was  laid  aside  every 
first  day;  but  when  taken  in  connection  with  its 
original  meaning,  and  with  the  custom  of  the 
Apostolic  Church,  it  means  a  great  deal.  The 
original  word  translated  "lay  by  in  store"  is 
"  thesaurizon/^  and  according  to  Macknight  and 
others,  has  reference  to  the  Church  box  or  treas- 
ury. Spiers  says  that  it  means  "putting  it  into 
the  treasury. "  ^  It  does  not  seem  that  any  other 
meaning  is  permissible  when  we  take  into  account 
the  last  words  of  the  verse  which  says,  "  that  there 
be  no  gatherings  when  I  come. "  ^  Now  if  this 
money  were  laid  up  in  their  homes,  there  woiild  still 
have  to  be  a  house-to-house  collection  when  he 
came.  That  was  just  what  Paul  wanted  to  avoid. 
But  if  it  were  put  into  the  treasury  it  would  be 
all  ready  when  he  came,  thus  preventing  delay. 
Later  on  the  church  regularly  took  a  collection 
for  the  poor  on  the  Lord's  day  when  they  met  for 
worship. 

»  Cor.  xvi.  2.       2  Sabbath  for  Man,  p.  54.        ^  1  Cor.  xvi,  2. 


The  hordes  Day  in  the  New  Testament.     129 

The  Revelation  of  John  does  not  fail  to  notice 
the  Lord's  Day.  "I  was  in  the  Spirit  on  the 
Lord's  Day, "  he  says.  This  is  not  the  Sabbath  of 
the  Jews,  as  some  assert,  for  if  it  is  he  would 
have  said  so  in  the  phraseology  of  his  day.  They 
had  a  different  name  for  the  Seventh  Day  than 
that  of  Lord's  Day.  The  Lord's  Day  was  never 
used  in  connection  with  the  Sabbath.  This  is  not 
the  judgment  day,  as  some  commentators  think, 
for  he  was  on  the  Isle  of  Patmos  and  not  in 
heaven  above.  It  is  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
and  the  Lord's  Day  was  the  term  used  to  desig- 
nate it  in  the  early  church. 

Though  not  much  is  said  about  the  Lord's  Day 
and  its  services  in  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, yet  from  what  Httle  is  incidentally  mentioned, 
much  can  be  legitimately  inferred.  There  are 
several  passages,  which  make  it  clear  that  the  dis- 
ciples of  Christ  came  together  regularly  in  a 
church.  "For  first  of  all,  when  ye  come  together 
in  the  church,"  and  in  the  same  connection, 
"When  therefore  ye  assemble  yourselves  together, 
it  is  not  possible  to  eat  the  Lord's  Supper. 
What?  have  ye  not  houses  to  eat  and  drink  in? 
or  despise  ye  the  church  of  God?"  ^  are  two  texts 
selected  from  a  number  similar  in  kind,  which  es- 
^  1  Cor.  xi.  18.  22. 


130    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

tablish  the  certainty  that  the  early  adherents  of 
Christianity  met  together  in  a  building  used  for 
the  purposes  of  a  church.  Private  houses  were 
also  meeting  places  when  more  convenient  build- 
ings could  not  be  obtained. 

The  New  Testament  also  reveals  what  day  it 
was  on  which  they  met.  Luke  declares  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  "And  upon  the  first  day  of  the 
week  when  we  were  gathered  together  to  break 
bread,  Paul  discoursed  with  them,  intending  to  de- 
part on  the  morrow."  ^  There  can  be  no  division 
of  opinion  here  about  the  first  day  of  the  week 
being  the  regular  meeting  day  of  the  disciples  or 
church  at  Troas. 

We  have  settled  then  that  the  followers  of 
Christ  met  together  in  their  churches  on  the  resur- 
rection day  of  Christ.  The  next  task  is  to  ascertain 
their  kind  of  service.  It  is  plain  from  the  above 
texts  that  preaching,  at  least  occasionally,  formed 
a  part  of  their  exercises.  Exhortation  seems 
to  be  quite  prominent  in  the  first  stages  of  the 
Church.  Speaking  in  unknown  tongues  is  simply 
exhortation  in  a  foreign  language.  "If  therefore 
the  whole  church  be  assembled  together  into  one 
place  and  all  speak  with  tongues";^  "How- 
beit  in  the  church  I  had  rather  speak  five  words 
1  Acts  XX.  7.  M  Cor.  xiv.  23. 


The  hordes  Day  in  the  New  Testament.     131 

with  my  understanding  that  I  might  instruct 
others  also,  than  ten  thousand  words  in  a  tongue"; 
"If  any  man  speaketh  in  a  tongue  ....  let 
one  interpret,  but  if  there  be  no  interpreter  let 
him  keep  silence  in  the  church";  "For  ye  all  can 
prophesy  (exhort)  one  by  one,  that  all  may  learn 
and  all  may  be  comforted";  "Let  the  women  keep 
silence  in  the  churches  .  .  .  .  for  it  is  a  shame  for 
a  woman  to  speak  in  the  church,"  are  texts  that 
put  beyond  a  doubt  the  idea  of  exhortation  in 
the  primitive  church.  The  reading  of  epistles  from 
absent  disciples  sometimes  entered  into  the  pro- 
gramme of  services.  In  the  first  letter  of  Paul  to 
the  Church  of  Thessalonica,  he  directs  the  church 
to  have  the  letter  read  to  all  the  holy  brethren, 
and  again  he  adds,  "And  when  this  epistle  hath 
been  read  among  you,  cause  that  it  be  read  also 
in  the  Church  of  the  Laodiceans;  and  that  ye 
also  read  the  epistle  from  Laodicea."  ^ 

The  reference  to  praying  in  an  unknown  tongue 
and  similar  utterances  lead  us  to  infer  that  prayer 
was  one  part  of  the  order  of  exercises. 

Singing  seems  to  have  been  another  element  in 
worship,  for  the  letter  to  the  Church  a£  Colosse 
says,  "teaching  and  admonishing  one  another  in 
psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs."  ^ 

1  Col.  iv.  16.  ^  Ibid.,  iii.  16. 


132    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

Another  important  factor  in  their  order  of  wor- 
ship was  the  Lord's  Supper.  From  Acts  xx.  7, 
that  seems  quite  well  established.  In  fact  they 
observed  it  every  day  at  first,  for  after  the  day  of 
Pentecost  we  are  told  the  disciples  went  from 
house  to  house  breaking  bread,  etc.  But  later  on 
this  rite  was  reserved  for  the  Lord's  Day  when 
they  were  all  assembled  together. 

We  are  not  certain  that  the  collection  for  the 
poor  was  taken  regularly  at  this  particular  time, 
though  we  do  know  that  they  had  special  collec- 
tions. However  at  the  period  immediately  suc- 
ceeding this,  the  collection  for  the  poor  was 
regularly  attended  to.  The  New  Testament  then 
furnishes  evidence  that  the  Apostolic  Church  met 
together  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  had 
reUgious  services  consisting  of  (1)  preaching, 
exhortation,  or  reading  of  epistles,  (2)  singing, 
(3)  prayer,  and  (4)  the  Lord's  Supper. 

These  are  all  the  direct  references  to  the  Lord's 
Day  in  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament;  and 
it  is  a  surprise  to  some  that  so  little  is  said  about 
it.  But  matters  of  this  character  were  considered 
non-essentials,  and  were  mentioned  because  of 
some  special  circumstance  calUng  them  forth.  It  is 
true  there  is  no  commandment  touching  upon  the 
subject  of  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day  in 


The  hordes  Day  in  the  New  Testament.     133 

apostolic  literature,  but  why  should  there  be,  when 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  to  lead,  guide  and  teach  the 
disciples  in  all  things?  It  grew  up  gradually  like 
other  Church  institutions.  Confirmation  is  not 
commanded  in  the  New  Testament  writings,  but 
laying  on  of  hands  is  incidentally  referred  to  a 
number  of  times.  ReUgious  orders  are  not  com- 
manded, but  we  find  in  the  pages  of  New  Testa- 
ment Hterature,  the  orders  of  deacons  and  elders. 
It  was  the  method  of  the  Spirit,  not  to  promulgate 
court-room  decrees,  but  to  lead  men  by  his  silent 
influence  to  adopt  whatever  action  or  institution 
was  best  under  the  circumstances. 


134    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 


CHAPTER  II. 

TESTIMONY   OF   ANTE-NICENE   FATHERS   AND 
WRITERS. 

A  FORMER  chapter  touched  upon  the  BibHcal 
features  of  the  Lord's  Day,  and  now  we  take  up 
the  evidence  outside  of  the  books  of  the  Bible. 
This  will  include  the  testimony  of  the  Apostolic 
Fathers,  the  Church  Fathers,  and  writers  of  pagan 
persuasion.  These  writings  throw  a  flood  of  light 
upon  the  question  of  the  Lord's  Day,  and  put  be- 
yond controversy  the  fact  of  its  existence  as  aik 
Christian  institution  in  the  first  days  of  Christi-I 
anity.  Though  this  evidence  is  not  in  the  Bible,fi 
yet  it  is  not  to  be  discredited.  We  must  not  shut 
our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  there  are  data  outside  of 
the  Bible  as  well  as  in  it,  relative  to  the  earhest 
history  of  Christianity.  We  must  search  for  the 
truth  in  secular  history  as  well  as  in  the  Bible, 
and  we  know  that  all  truth  is  of  God.  The  wars 
of  Caesar  were  a  fact  in  history,  though  they  are 
not  referred  to  in  the  Bible.    So  with  regard  to 


Testimony  of  Ante-Nicene  Fathers.         135 

the  Lord's  Day;  if  we  find  a  fact  outside  of  the 
New  Testament,  it  is  as  much  of  a  fact  as  if  it 
were  in  it,  because  it  is  true. 

The  following  witnesses  supplement  the  last 
chapter  in  proving  the  prevalence  of  the  Lord's 
Day  at  least  in  the  apostoHc  period.  I  select  the 
witnesses  before  the  Nicene  Council  because'  at 
that  time  Church  authorities  commenced  to  make 
canons  bearing  on  the  day,  and  civil  rulers  issued 
decrees,  with  which  all  Bible  students  are  famil- 
iar. To  connect  this  time  or  period  with  the 
apostolic  period,  with  a  special  reference  to  the 
Lord's  Day,  is  now  our  appointed  task. 

About  the  year  a.d.  70-79  Barnabas  wrote, 
saying  "We  keep  the  eighth  day  with  joyfulness; 
the  day  on  which  Christ  rose  from  the  dead."  * 
The  authenticity  of  this  is  questioned.  However, 
if  it  was  not  written  by  Barnabas  it  was  by  some 
other,  who  expressed  the  thoughts  and  views  of 
this  early  period. 

Ignatius,  who  died  about  a.d.  107,  contributes 
his  part  to  the  Lord's  Day  Hterature,  which  is  con- 
sidered very  valuable  as  he  was  a  contemporary  of 
John.  He  speaks  in  this  wise:  "If  therefore 
those  who  were  brought  up  in  the  ancient  order  of 
things  have  come  unto  possession  of  a  new  hope, 
*  Ante-Nicene  Library,  Vol.  i.,  123. 


136    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

no  longer  observing  the  Sabbath  but  living  in  the 
observance  of  the  Lord's  Day,  on  which  also  our 
life  has  sprung  upagain  by  Himand  by  his  death."  ^ 
In  this  quotation  the  original  for  Lord's  Day  is 
"Kuriake."  This  does  not  mean  "Day  of  the 
Lord,"  but  it  is  a  noun  phrase,  and  is  an  expression 
standing  for  an  institution. 

Special  significance  is  placed  upon  Pliny's  letter 
to  Trajan  about  a.d.  103-105.  Pliny  was  Gov- 
ernor of  Pontus  and  Bithynia  and  was  ordered  by 
the  Emperor  Trajan  to  root  out  the  Christians. 
Pliny  writes  to  the  Emperor  about  the  Christians, 
and  says:  "They  declared  that  all  the  wrong  that 
they  had  committed,  wittingly  or  unwittingly,  was 
this,  that  they  had  been  accustomed  on  a  fixed  day 
to  meet  before  dawn  and  sing  antiphonally  a  hymn 
to  Christ  as  God  and  bind  themselves  by  a  solemn 
pledge,  not  to  commit  any  enormity,  but  to  abstain 
from  theft,  brigandage  and  adultery,  to  keep  their 
word,  and  not  to  refuse  to  restore  what  had  been 
entrusted  to  their  charge  if  demanded.  After 
these  ceremonies  they  used  to  disperse  and  assemble 
again  and  share  a  common  meal  of  innocent  food."  ^ 
From  the  context  and  other  evidences  it  is  reason- 
ably concluded  that  the  stated  day  was  no  other 

1  A.  N.  L.,  Vol.  i.,  180. 

2  Quar.  Rev.,  Vol.  135,  43. 


Testimony  of  Ante-Nicene  Fathers.         137 

than  the  first  day  of  the  week.  Another  very- 
early  document  recently  found,  called  the  "  Teach- 
ing of  the  Twelve,"  which  dates  about  a.d.  120, 
makes  this  statement:  "But  every  Lord's  Day  do 
ye  gather  yourselves  together  and  break  bread  and 
give  thanks  after  having  confessed  your  transgres- 
sions, that  our  sacrifices  may  be  pure."  ^ 

The  newly  discovered  Sinaitic  document  of  Aris- 
tides,  the  philosopher  of  Athens,  throws  light  on 
this  institution.  In  the  letter  to  the  Emperor 
Trajan,  about  a.d.  125,  he  ignores  Sabbath  keeping 
among  the  list  of  duties  of  Christians,  and  claims 
the  Jews  are  in  error  in  observing  the  Sabbath.^ 

Justin  Martyr  who  wrote  in  a.d.  138  declares: 
"On  the  day  called  Sunday  all  (Christians)  who 
live  in  cities  or  in  the  country,  gather  together 
in  one  place;  and  the  memoirs  of  the  Apostles  or 
the  writings  of  the  prophets  are  read,  as  long  as 
time  permits;  then  when  the  reader  has  ceased, 
the  President  verbally  instructs,  and  exhorts  to 
the  imitation  of  these  good  things."  ^  Again  in  the 
same  connection,  he  says,  "Sunday  is  the  day  on 
which  we  all  hold  our  common  assembly,  because  it 
is  the  first  day  on  which  God  having  wrought  a 

^  Teaching  of  Twelve  Apostles,  Chap.  14. 

2  Discourses  of  Aristides,  Chap.  14. 

3  A.  N.  L.,  Vol.  ii.,  65,  66. 


138    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

change  in  the  darkness  and  matter,  made  the  world; 
and  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour  on  the  same  day 
rose  from  the  dead."  Elsewhere  are  these  words: 
''  The  command  to  circumcise  infants  on  the  eighth 
day  was  a  type  of  the  true  circumcision  by  which 
we  are  circumcised  from  error  and  wickedness 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  rose  from  the 
dead  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  therefore,  it  re- 
mained the  first  and  chief  of  all  days."^  About 
this  time  Melito,  bishop  of  Sardis,  wrote  a  treatise 
on  the  subject  of  the  Lord's  Day.  It  must  have 
developed  to  be  of  considerable  importance  to  be 
the  subject  of  a  treatise. 

Irenaeus,  bishop  of  Lyons,  in  a.d.  178,  observes: 
"  This  custom  of  not  bending  the  knee  on  Sunday, 
is  a  symbol  of  the  resurrection,  through  which  we 
have  been  set  free,  by  the  grace  of  Christ,  from 
sins,  and  from  death,  which  has  been  put  to  death 
under  Him."^  He  adds  further:  "The  Lord's 
resurrection  should  be  celebrated  on  no  other  day 
than  the  Lord's  Day;  and  on  that  day  alone  we 
should  observe  the  paschal  feast."  ^  Dionysius  of 
Corinth,  a  contemporary  of  Irenaeus  says:  "We 
celebrate  the  Lord's  Day."  ^  The  ApostoHcal 
Constitutions,   written   about   a.d.   300,   contains 

1  Discourse  with  Trypho.     Sec.  41.       ^  gccl.  His.  ii.,  236. 

2  A.  N.  L.,  Vol.  ix.,  162,  163,  '  Ibid.,  ii,  26. 


Testimony  of  Ante-Nicene  Fathers.         139 

this  clause:  "  On  the  day  of  the  Resurrection  of  the 
Lord,  that  is,  the  Lord's  Day,  assemble  yourselves 
together  without  fail,  giving  thanks  to  God  and 
praising  Him  for  those  mercies  God  has  bestowed 
upon  you  through  Christ."  ^ 

Tertullian,  the  great  Carthage  presbyter,  who 
lived  and  wrote  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second 
century  and  part  of  the  third,  gives  expression  to 
his  views  in  these  words:  "We  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  Sabbath  or  other  Jewish  festivals, 
much  less  with  those  of  the  heathen."  ^  Bardesa- 
nes  of  Edessa,  a  Syrian  who  flourished  about  a.d. 
180,  says:  "One  day,  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
we  assembled  ourselves  together  and  on  the  days 
of  the  readings  we  abstained  from  sustenance."  ^ 
Clement  of  Alexandria  bears  witness  to  the  Lord's 
Day,  in  this  manner:  "He,  in  fulfilment  of  the 
precept,  according  to  the  Gospel,  keeps  the  Lord's 
Day,  when  he  abandons  an  evil  disposition,  and 
assumes  that  of  the  Gnostic,  glorifying  the  Lord's 
resurrection  in  himself."  ^  Anatolius,  bishop  of 
Laodicea,  a  Greek,  and  living  in  the  year  a.d.  200 
offers    this    testimony:    "The    obhgation    of    the 

1  A.  N.  L.,  Vol.  xvii.,  189. 

2  Ibid.,  Vol.  xii.,  85.  - 

3  Book  of  the  Laws  of  Countries. 
*  A.  N.  L.,  Vol.  xii.,  461. 


140    Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

Lord's  resurrection  binds  us  to  keep  the  paschal 

festival  on   the   Lord's   Day The   solemn 

festival  of  the  resurrection  of  the  Lord  can  be  cele- 
brated only  on  the  Lord's  Day Our  regard 

for  the  Lord's  resurrection  which  took  place  on  the 
Lord's  Day  will  lead  us  to  celebrate  it  on  the  same 
principle. "  ^  There  was  no  Church  law  at  this 
time  to  compel  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Day. 
It  was  optional;  so  their  love  for  Christ  led  to  the 
celebration  of  the  day.  It  was  this  idea  of  per- 
sonal love  for  Christ  that  estabUshed  such  a  gen- 
eral custom. 

Origen,  who  lived  about  a.d.  225,  was  a  man 
of  great  learning  and  high  authority  in  the  early 
Church.  In  the  following  he  makes  known  his 
arguments  against  possible  objectors:  '^If  it  be 
objected  to  us  on  this  subject,  that  we  ourselves 
are  accustomed  to  observe  certain  days,  as,  for 
example,  the  Lord's  Day,  the  preparation,  the  Pass- 
over, or  the  Pentecost.  I  have  to  answer,  that  to 
the  perfect  Christian,  who  is  ever  in  his  thoughts, 
words  and  deeds  serving  his  natural  Lord,  God  the 
Word,  all  his  days  are  the  Lord's  and  he  is  always 
keeping  the  Lord's  Day. "  ^ 

Victorinus,  bishop  of  Petau,  about  a.d.  300, 
furnishes  us  this  statement:  "On  the  former  day 

1  A.  N.  L.,  Vol.  xiv.,  416,  419,  425.        ^  jbid.,  xxiii.,  509. 


Testimony  of  Ante-Nicene  Fathers.         141 

(the  sixth)  we  were  accustomed  to  fast  rigorously, 
that  on  the  Lord's  Day  we  may  go  forth  to  our 
bread  with  giving  of  thanks.  And  let  the  parasceve 
become  a  rigorous  fast,  lest  we  should  appear  to 
observe  any  Sabbath  with  the  Jews,  which  Christ 
himself,  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  says  by  his 
prophets  that  his  soul  hateth,  which  Sabbath  he  in 
his  body  aboHshed. "  ^  Peter  of  Alexandria,  about 
A.D.  306,  certifies  to  this:  "But  the  Lord's  Day  we 
celebrate  as  a  day  of  joy  because  on  it  he  rose 
again,  on  which  day  we  have  received  it  for  a  cus- 
tom not  even  to  bow  the  knee. "  ^ 

The  testimony  of  the  Father  of  Church  History, 
Eusebius,  is  of  great  significance.  He  was  pos- 
sessed of  great  learning,  travelled  extensively,  and 
had  access  to  those  agencies  which  would  make 
him  thoroughly  conversant  with  Christianity, 
whose  history  he  had  given  to  the  world.  About 
A.D.  324  he  writes  concerning  the  patriarchs: 
"They  do  not  therefore  regard  circumscision  nor 
the  Sabbath,  nor  do  we,  because  such  things  do  not 
belong  to  Christians. "  ^ 

In  the  foregoing  testimony  we  have  those  who 
were  contemporaries  of  the  apostles,  who  learned 
directly  from  them  of  their  teachings  and  customs. 

1  A.  N.  L.,  xviii.,  390.  ^  ibid.,  xiv  ,  322. 

3  Ecclesiastical  History,  Vol.  i,,  42. 


142    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

Also  there  were  a  number  that  were  living  with 
the  contemporaries  of  the  apostles,  and  received 
apostoUc  truth  and  practice  second  hand  from 
the  chosen  ones  of  the  Master.  All  with  the 
exception  of  the  last  two  or  three  named  writers, 
had  some  part  of  their  life  contemporaneous  with 
at  least  some  of  those  who  Uved  and  talked 
with  the  disciples.  The  Lord's  Day  is  a  definite 
expression  used  by  the  following  authorities :  The 
Teaching  of  the  Apostles,  Ignatius,  Dionysius, 
Mehto,  Irenaeus,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Tertul- 
lian,  Origen,  Anatolius,  Apostolical  Constitutions, 
Victorinus,  Peter  of  Alexandria,  and  Eusebius. 
These  writings  connect  in  a  continuous  line  the 
Nicene  Council  with  the  time  of  the  apostles. 
Then  the  testimony  of  the  Apostohc  Fathers, 
Church  Fathers  and  other  writers  undisputably 
supports  the  claim  that  the  Lord's  Day  was  in  this 
early  age  a  day  of  worship  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  in  commemoration  of  the  rising  of  Christ 
from  the  dead. 


Relation  of  Lord's  Day  to  Jewish  Sabbath,     143 


CHAPTER  III. 

RELATION   OF  THE   LORD's  DAY  TO  THE  JEWISH 
SABBATH. 

Almost  all  writers  upon  this  subject  maintain 
that  the  Lord's  Day  is  a  continuation  of  the  Sab- 
bath of  the  Jews,  yet  none  can  tell  when  it  was 
changed,  how  it  was  changed,  or  by  whom  it  was 
changed.  There  seem  to  be  no  grounds  for  mak- 
ing such  an  assertion.  It  is  a  position  the  sup- 
porters of  such  a  view  are  driven  into,  when  they 
maintain  the  perpetual  obHgation  of  the  fourth 
commandment.  There  is  no  record  of  such  a 
change.  Paul  did  not  emphasize  one  day  as  being 
more  sacred  than  another.  If  there  was  any  offi- 
cial change  at  this  time  he  would  have  mentioned 
it.  It  was  definitely  stated  that  the  law  was  abol- 
ished: not  a  part  of  the  law,  but  the  "books  of  the 
law,"  and  the  law  of  Christ,  which  is  the  law  of  love, 
substituted.  Another  fact  is,  that  the  apostles  and 
the  whole  Church  since  have  met  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week  and  worshipped  the  Master.    Now  if 


144    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

there  was  a  change  in  the  day,  it  rests  upon  those 
who  make  the  claim  to  substantiate  it,  and  not  beg 
the  very  question  which  they  are  to  prove.  Neither 
a  guess  nor  a  supposition  is  scientific  evidence.  No 
writer  of  the  early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  has 
intimated  any  such  change.  The  facts  in  the  case 
clearly  show  that  the  Lord's  Day  is  a  new  institu- 
tion, having  no  dependence  on  the  Jewish  Sabbath. 
If  there  was  a  change,  then  when  was  the  last 
Sabbath  and  when  the  first  Lord's  Day?  If  a 
change,  then  it  was  a  fully  developed  Lord's  Day 
from  the  beginning,  which  is  not  the  case.  It 
grew  to  be  what  it  was  by  degrees  through  many 
years.  At  first  it  was  simply  a  memorial  day, 
then  it  developed  into  a  worship  day.  After  a 
long  period  of  time  Christians  rested  from  labor 
during  the  whole  day.  An  official  change  would 
require  them  to  rest  the  whole  day  from  the  be- 
ginning. There  is  no  commandment  or  even  a 
hint  from  the  apostles  or  others  that  there  was  a 
change  of  days  in  the  sense,  that  the  Lord's  Day 
is  a  continuation  of  the  Sabbath.  It  is  true  that 
the  Lord's  Day  followed  the  Sabbath  in  the  se- 
quence of  time,  and  in  a  measure  took  its  place, 
so  also  our  Christmas  took  the  place  of  the  Roman 
feast  of  Brumafia,  and  the  feast  of  Easter  took  the 
place  of  the  Teutonic  feast  of  Ostera  or  Eastre; 


Relation  of  Lord  's  Day  to  Jewish  Sabbath,     145 

that,  however,  does  not  imply  that  one  is  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  other  or  dependent  on  the  other 
for  its  existence  or  authority. 

The  bold  charge  is  made  that  Constantine 
changed  the  Sabbath  at  the  instigation  of  Pope  Syl- 
vester. The  testimony  of  history  completely  dispels 
such  a  delusion.  As  has  already  been  suggested, 
there  was  no  official  or  other  kind  of  change  from 
one  day  to  the  other.  One  day  died  out  and  a  new 
day  arose,  having  no  dependent  relation  to  that 
which  was  abolished.  At  this  time  there  was  no 
pope  exercising  authority  over  all  other  churches. 
Sylvester  was  only  the  bishop  of  the  city  of  Rome, 
having  no  voice  over  the  rest  of  Christendom; 
neither  is  there  the  faintest  evidence  to  show  that 
he  dictated  the  Sunday  legislation  of  Constantine. 
Before  the  Sunday  laws  of  Constantine,  three  edicts 
had  been  granted  giving  Christians  liberty  in  the 
exercise  of  their  faith.  Gallienus  about  A.D.  260 
allowed  Christians  the  free  enjoyment  of  their 
religion  and  restored  their  confiscated  property. 
This  was  annulled  by  Diocletian.  In  A.D.  311 
came  the  Edict  of  Toleration,  and  two  years  later 
the  Edict  of  Milan,  giving  again  constitutional 
liberty  to  the  Church  to  worship  God  as  they  saw 
fit.  These  measures  were  only  a  preparation  for 
the   famous   Edict  of    a.d.  321    which   legalized 


146     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

resting  on  Sunday.     Christianity  now   had  legal 
rights  under  Constantine,  but  only  the  followers 
of  Christ  observed  the  Lord's  Day.     The  week  of 
the   pagan    Romans  was  an  astrological  week  in 
which  all  days  were  religious  days!     They  had  no 
special  rest  day,  and  so  worked  on  the  Lord's  Day 
the  same  as  any  other  day  of  the  week.     Because 
this  interfered  with  the  Christians  who  rested  on 
Sunday,  Constantine  issued  an  edict  requesting  all, 
except  those  in  country  districts,  to  rest  on  the  day 
of  the  sun  or  the  first  day  of  the  week.     This  law 
did  not  call  into  existence  Sunday  or  Lord's  Day, 
as  some  assert.     It  was  at  this  time  generally  ob- 
served by  the  Church.     One  Church  council  at  least 
had,  as  has  been  mentioned  before,  taken  action  on 
it.     The  Council  of  Elvira  which  met  sixteen  years 
before  this,  decreed,  ''that  all  who  abstained  them- 
selves three  Lord's  Days  from  Church  service,  that 
they  should  be  suspended."     Though  an  avowed 
Christian  submitting  to  Christian  rites,  Constan- 
tine's  failure  to  connect  Sunday  with  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ  is  not  due  to  any  leaning  to  the  pagan 
form  of  worship  ;  it  is  rather  the  policy  of  a  wise 
statesman.     This  no  doubt  was  a  political  expedi- 
ent designed  to  weld  together  the    two  rival  reli- 
gious factions  of  his  empire  without  giving  offence 
to  either.     Even  the  coins  which   he  issued   had 


Relation  of  Lord 's  Day  to  Jewish  Sabhath.     147 

the  image  of  Christ  on  one  side  and  Apollo  on 
the  other.  Had  he  connected  Sunday  with  the 
resurrection,  it  would  have  displeased  a  consider- 
able portion  of  his  soldiers  and  subjects,  and  thus 
would  have,  no  doubt,  produced  serious  results. 
The  Komans  worshipped  the  sun  on  the  second 
day  of  the  week,  and  Christians  observed  the  very 
same  day  in  honor  of  Christ ;  and  in  appointing 
the  first  day  of  the  week  as  a  rest  day  in  cities  and 
towns  without  giving  a  reason,  he  gave  no  offence 
to  the  pagan  element  and  fully  satisfied  the  de- 
mands of  the  Christians.  However  he  exhorted 
his  soldiers  to  worship  the  one  true  God. 

The  custom  of  observing  the  first  day  of  the 
week  had  spread  all  over  Christendom,  else  it 
would  have  been  literally  impossible  for  Constan- 
tino to  enforce  such  a  law.  The  whole  history  of 
humanity  has  demonstrated  again  and  again  how 
futile  it  is  to  arbitrarily  force  a  religious  custom 
at  once  upon  any  people  with  opposing  convic- 
tions. The  enactments  of  previous  councils  show 
how  strictly  the  day  was  regarded  before  Con- 
stantino's time. 

It  is  pertinent  to  note,  that  the  Sunday  of  the 
Romans  was  not  the  first  day  of  the  week,  nor 
the  seventh  day  of  the  week.  Saturday,  or  the 
day  dedicated  to  the  God  Saturn,  was  the   first 


148     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

day  of  the  astrological  week  of  the  Romans ;  and 
Friday,  or  the  day  dedicated  to  the  God  Venus, 
was  the  seventh  day  of  the  week.  All  the  days 
were  dedicated  to  some  divinity :  Saturday  to  the 
God  Saturn ;  Sunday  to  the  sun  god ;  Monday  to 
the  moon  god ;  Tuesday  to  Mars ;  Wednesday 
to  Mercury ;  Thursday  to  Jupiter ;  and  Friday  to 
Venus.  The  sun  of  course  being  the  largest 
luminary  would  receive  the  most  homage.  But 
in  that  age  they  did  not  abstain  from  labor  on  that 
day  in  honor  of  their  god ;  they  had  no  regular 
rest  days,  for  all  days  with  them  were  worship 
days.  The  above  order  of  the  divinities  is  a 
matter  of  much  interest  to  many.  If  the  sun 
were  the  greatest  divinity,  why  not  have  it  placed 
first  in  the  list?  The  order  was  taken  from 
Egyptians,  a.d.  150,  and  they  in  turn  from  the 
Babylonians,  who  first  established  the  system. 
The  Babylonians  devoted  each  hour  of  the  day  to 
the  divinities  in  their  order.  The  god  that  pre- 
sided over  the  first  hour  of  the  day  had  special 
supervision  over  the  whole  day.  They  com- 
menced the  system  with  Saturn,  the  most  distant 
planet,  whereas  in  ancient  India  they  commenced 
the  week  with  the  moon,  as  it  was  the  nearest 
planet.  In  this  way  arose  the  order  of  the 
Roman  week.     It  is  plain  that  the  Romans  wor- 


Relation  of  Lord's  Day  to  Jewish  Sabbath,    149 

shipped  every  day  of  the  week,  but  had  no 
particular  rest  day  during  their  later  history. 

The  statements  of  the  Church  Fathers  con- 
tinue in  the  same  line.  Justin  Martyr  and  Ter- 
tullian  state  expressly,  that  like  circumcision 
the  Sabbath  is  abolished  under  Christianity.  The 
latter  says :  "  The  precept  to  keep  the  Sabbath 
was  not  eternal,  nor  spiritual,  but  temporal  which 
would  one  day  cease. '  '^  Irenaeus  also  did  not  con- 
sider **the  Sabbath  laws  of  the  old  dispensation 
as  having  any  statutory  force  under  the  new  dis- 
pensation." The  epistle  of  Barnabas,  while  com- 
mending the  eighth  day,  speaks  of  the  Lord  as 
having  abolished  Jewish  sacrifices,  new  moons, 
and  sabbaths.^  The  Sabbath,  according  to  this 
view,  was  no  longer  binding  and  was  not 
enforced. 

Bardesanes  contrasts  the  observance  of  the 
Seventh  Day  by  the  Jews  with  that  of  the  First 
Day  by  the  Christians,  implying  two  separate  insti- 
tutions, and  that  the  latter  did  not  regard  the 
First  Day  as  a  continuation  of  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath, but  rather  as  a  distinct  and  separate  institu- 
tion.^     Victorinus    says :    "  Christ   abolished    the 

1  Church  History  by  Sheldon,  Vol.  i.,  275. 

2  A.  N.  L.,  Vol.  L,  103,  128. 

3  Sunday  by  Hessey,  291. 


150    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  ayid  Sunday. 

Sabbath  with  his  own  body."  ^  But  a  thing  that 
is  abolished  cannot  yet  be  in  force.  And  Euse- 
bius,  whose  word  carries  great  weight,  says ,  "  Nor 
do  we  keep  the  Sabbath  because  such  things  do 
not  belong  to  Christians."  ^  The  implication  is, 
that  Jewish  laws  and  institutions  had  no  binding 
authority  on  Christians.  Athanasius  speaks  em- 
phatically of  the  Sabbath,  as  having  deceased,^ 
which  statement  he  would  not  have  made,  if  its 
observance  were  still  obligatory  under  the  new 
name.  Athanasius  is  credited  with  saying  in 
"De  Sabbatis"  that  "The  Lord  transferred  the 
Sabbath  to  the  Lord's  Day."*  This  is  so  utterly 
at  variance  with  his  statements  in  his  other  works 
that  it  has  been  positively  rejected  by  scholars  as 
not  genuine.  The  words  of  Hessey  ought  to  be 
conclusive:  ** Another  work  ascribed  to  Atha- 
nasius, and  entitled  *  De  Sabbatis,'  I  reject  for 
reasons  assigned  by  the  Benedictines  without 
scruple.  They  speak  most  slightingly  of  it,  and 
Fabricius  has  not  a  word  to  advance  in  its  favor. 
I  only  mention  it  because  of  a  peculiar  phrase 
which  is  found  in  it,  and  which  has  by  some  been 

1  Book  of  the  Laws  of  Countries. 

2  Eccl.  History,  Book  III.,  chap,  xxvii. 
8  Sunday  by  Hessey,  p.  68. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  69,  70. 


Relation  of  Lord^s  Day  to  Jewish  Sabbath.     151 

interpreted  as  declaring  that  the  Sabbath  lives  in 
the  Lord's  Day.  Even  admitting,  which  we  can- 
not, the  treatise  to  be  genuine,  the  words  need 
mean,  when  taken  with  the  context,  no  more  than 
this,  *  The  Sabbath,  the  shadow  of  things  to  come, 
is  no  more.  The  truth  and  the  Lord  of  truth 
have  been  magnified,  and  are  commemorated  in 
the  Lord's  Day.'" 

Cyril,  Archbishop  of  Jerusalem  (a.d.  345),  in- 
structs the  people  to  *'  abstain  from  all  observance 
of  Sabbaths."^  Epiphanius  speaks  of  the  great 
Sabbath  rest  in  Christ,  to  which  the  smaller  or 
original  one  was  an  introduction.^  He  states 
clearly  that  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  being  an  intro- 
duction, is  abolished. 

Gregory  of  Nyssa  regards  the  Sabbath  "as  a 
Jewish  institution."  ^  If  so,  it  in  no  sense  affects 
Christians.  Jerome  comparing  Jewish  and  Chris- 
tian institutions,  places  the  Sabbath  with  the  for- 
mer.^ Augustine  declares  that  the  rest  of  the 
Sabbath  he  considers  no  longer  binding  as  an  ob- 
servance.^ It  is  very  plain  that  the  fourth 
commandment  had  no  statutory  force  under  the 
new  covenant. 

1  Lives  of  the  Fathers,  Cyril,  p.  5.  *  Ibid.,  p.  73. 

2  Sunday,  p.  71.  s  ibid.,  p.  75. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  72. 


152     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday/, 

It  has  been  objected  that,  although  the  Sabbath 
is  abolished,  the  fourth  commandment  is  not 
abrogated.  If  the  Sabbath  is  abolished  how  can 
the  Sabbath  commandment  be  still  in  force?  It 
was  the  commandment  that  gave  the  Sabbath  its 
Life,  validity,  and  source  of  obligation.  Now  m 
order  to  annul  it,  the  authority  that  gave  it  exis- 
tence and  validity,  must  necessarily  be  annulled. 
If  the  Lord's  Day  was  the  Sabbath  then  the  Sab- 
bath was  not  abohshed,  but  only  moved  to  another 
day  of  the  week.  No  writer  of  the  early  centuries 
ever  quoted  the  fourth  commandment  as  a  reason 
for  keeping  the  Lord's  Day,  for  then  they  would 
be  putting  themselves  again  under  the  authority 
of  the  law.  'Tis  true,  as  some  writers  of  the  early 
Church  have  intimated,  the  Sabbath  is  yet  in  force 
in  the  sense  of  a  spiritual  rest  (Sabbath)  in  Christ, 
in  which  case  all  days  are  Lord's  Days.  Such 
references  as  "  Sabbath  typical  of  the  great  Sab- 
bath in  Christ,"  "  Sabbath  a  shadow  of  things  to 
come  "  which  is  Christ,  cannot  be  construed  to 
refer  to  the  Lord's  Day  but  rather  to  the  whole 
Gospel  Dispensation. 

We  have,  therefore,  failed  to  find  a  single  fact 
to  convince  us  of  the  great  change  from  the  Jewish 
Sabbath  to  the  Lord's  Day.  There  is  nothing  to 
show  that  the  Lord's  Day  was    founded  on  the 


Relation  of  Lord^s  Day  to  Jewish  Sabhath.      153 

ancient  site  of  the  Sabbath,  or  was  a  continuation 
of  it,  or  had  its  authority  in  a  Jewish  command,  or 
that  its  observance  was  based  on  the  prescription 
of  the  fourth  commandment.  No  Christian  insti- 
tution is  or  can  be  consistently  grounded  on  the 
statutes  of  a  Jewish  law.  One  of  our  greatest 
authorities  on  the  Sabbath  question  gives  expres- 
sion to  these  significant  words :  "  In  no  clearly 
genuine  passage  that  I  can  discover  in  any  writer 
of  these  two  centuries,  or  in  any  public  document 
ecclesiastical  or  civil,  is  the  fourth  commandment 
referred  to  as  the  ground  of  the  obligation  to 
observe  the  Lord's  Day.  In  no  passage  is  there 
any  hint  of  the  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  to  the 
Lord's  Day,  or  of  the  planting  of  the  Lord's  Day 
on  the  ruins  of  the  Sabbath."  ^ 

The  period  referred  to  above  is  the  fourth  and 
fifth  centuries,  but  he  makes  similar  remarks 
regarding  the  first  three  centuries.  The  Jewish 
Sabbath  possibly  supplied  a  model  or  type  but  had 
no  statutory  force  to  those  who  were  not  under 
the  law.  This  idea  is  sustained  by  another  pains- 
taking author,  whose  candor  and  critical  acumen 
render  his  conclusions  of  great  value.  His  sum- 
ming up  is  found  in  the  following  words :  "  The 
utmost  connection  predicated  in  the  first  five, 
1  Sunday  by  Hessey,  p.  86. 


154     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

perhaps  we  may  say  six,  centuries  between  the 
Jewish  and  the  Christian  day  appears  in  the  idea, 
very  rarely  expressed,  that  the  former  was  in  a 
sense  emblematic  of  the  latter."  ^  The  heathen 
Sabbath  was  a  model  to  the  Jews  as  regards  a 
septenary  division  of  time,  but  the  authority  of 
the  Jewish  Sabbath  was  not  based  on  heathen 
commands,  customs,  or  institutions.  So  likewise 
was  the  Jewish  Sabbath  a  model  for  the  Christian's 
worship  day,  but  that  in  no  way  is  to  be  considered 
an  authority  for  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day. 
They  were  two  separate  institutions,  one  having 
no  causal  relation  to  the  other. 

1  Sheldon's  Church  History,  Vol.  i.,  488. 


Relation  of  Christ  to  Sahhath  of  the  Jews,     155 


CHAPTER   IV. 

RELATION   OF   CHRIST   TO   THE   SABBATH   OF 
THE   JEWS. 

From  the  first  it  was  the  purpose  of  Christ 
to  inaugurate  a  reign  of  love  and  righteousness. 
The  kingdom  of  heaven,  which  was  nothing  more 
than  the  kingdom  of  righteousness  here  on  earth, 
was  the  central  theme  and  key  note  of  all  his 
discourses.  Christ  while  on  earth  doubtless  con- 
formed more  or  less,  as  it  was  expedient,  to  the 
customs  of  his  Jewish  brethren,  but  his  ultimate 
purpose  and  aim  crops  out  again  and  again.  At 
first  in  the  beginning  of  his  ministry  he  said: 
"  I  came  not  to  destroy  the  law  and  the  prophets 
but  to  fulfil."  This  law  was  fulfilled  only  in 
love ;  this  no  doubt  was  his  meaning,  for  he 
immediately  began  to  wipe  out  objectionable 
features  of  the  Jewish  law.  For  instance,  not- 
withstanding it  was  Moses  who,  at  the  command  of 
God,  gave  the  law  of  divorce,  yet  Jesus  caused  it,  as 
also  the  law  of  revenge,    to    be    annulled.     His 


156     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday, 

attitude  can  be  further  gathered  from  passages 
like  this :  *'  Ye  have  heard  it  said  by  them  of  old 
time."  He  does  not  say  "the  Scriptures,"  but 
them  of  ancient  times.  It  certainly  lacked  the 
reverence  that  the  Jews  held  towards  the  Sacred 
Writings.  If  this  were  translated  into  our  ver- 
nacular it  would  strike  our  ears,  as  it  did  the 
listening  Jew,  something  like  this :  "Ye  have 
heard  it  said  by  some  antiquated  men."  From 
such  texts  his  attitude  towards  the  law  could  not 
be  mistaken.  His  parables  concerning  the  new 
piece  of  cloth  on  an  old  garment,  and  also  the 
new  wine  in  old  bottles,  clearly  teach  us  that 
Christianity  was  entirely  new  in  spirit  and  form, 
and  not  intended  to  be  a  part  of,  or  a  patching  on, 
to  a  Jewish  system.  The  old  garment  and  the 
old  bottles  of  wine,  which  stand  for  Judaism,  are, 
part  and  parcel,  laid  aside  as  useless  and  some- 
thing better  put  in  their  place.  If  he  was  loyal 
to  the  letter  of  the  law  then  these  words  are 
devoid  of  meaning. 

Because  the  circumstances  demanded  that  he 
should  passively  conform  to  the  ceremonial  part 
of  the  law,  there  is  nothing  in  that  which  would 
make  it  binding  on  all  succeeding  generations. 
Any  other  course  would  prejudice  the  Jews 
against  him  and  he  would  consequently  be  unable 


Relation  of  Christ  to  Sabbath  of  the  Jews.     157 

to  influence  or  lead  them  in  the  direction  of  his 
great  reformation. 

When  Christ  healed  the  leper,  he  thus  in- 
structed him :  "  Go  thy  way,  and  show  thyself 
to  the  priest,  and  offer  for  thy  cleansing  accord- 
ing as  Moses  commanded."^  This  is  the  only 
Mosaic  ceremonial  command  that  Christ  gave  dur- 
ing his  ministry.  It  is  not  implied  hy  this  act, 
that  he  intended  such  ceremonial  to  be  binding. 
His  talk  with  the  woman  of  Samaria  implies  that 
all  ceremonials  were  to  be  done  away  with,  and 
that  not  only  for  the  future,  but  they  at  present 
were  of  no  avail.  "But  the  hour  cometh,  and 
now  is,  when  the  true  worshippers  shall  worship 
the  Father  in  spirit  and  truth.  "^  His  other  com- 
mands were  chiefly  ethical.  At  the  close  of  his 
ministry  the  sign  of  a  disciple  was  love,  and  sal- 
vation was  not  based  upon  the  performance  of 
the  law,  but  by  believing  on  him  and  thereby 
entering  upon  the  new  life.  The  mission  of  his 
life  was  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth,  and  be  him- 
self truth  incarnate,  or  love  incarnate.  This  new 
religion  that  he  presented  was  without  priests, 
temple,  sacrifice,  ritual,  formal  laws  and  ordi- 
nances. Love  to  God  and  man  was  the  essential 
factor;  simply  goodness  or  God-likeness  without 

1  Luke  V.  14.  2  John  iv.  23. 


158      Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

laws  or  ceremonies.  It  was  in  spirit  and  truth, 
that  this  new  form  of  religion  was  to  consist. 
This  was  the  kingdom  of  God  which  he  empha- 
sized so  much  during  his  earthly  career.  It  was 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  kingdom  of  right- 
eousness here  on  earth,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Messiah  or  vicegerent  of  God.  The  teaching,  ordi- 
nances, offices,  etc.,  were  to  grow  out  of  the  Chris- 
tian consciousness  of  his  followers.  Not  a  word  is 
said  about  a  New  Testament  book,  bishops,  deacons, 
order  of  service,  Christmas,  Sunday,  Good  Friday, 
etc.  All  these  are  left  to  the  consecrated  common 
sense  of  Christians.  They  were  to  choose  from 
time  to  time  what  was  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
Church,  or  rather  the  kingdom  of  God. 

It  is  singular  that  in  all  Christ's  teaching  he 
never  emphasized  Sabbath  observance.  When  the 
young  ruler  came  to  inquire  of  him  concerning 
eternal  life,  Christ  told  him  to  keep  the  command- 
ments. He  named  five,  leaving  entirely  out 
of  the  enumeration  the  Sabbath  commandment. 
Only  some  moral  commandments  were  mentioned, 
as  these  were  all  that  were  necessary.  This  again 
supports  the  proposition  that  his  religion  was 
ethical.  Indeed  he  did  not  scrupulously  observe 
the  Sabbath  himself.  We  have  the  authoritative 
statement  in  the  Gospel  of  Luke  that  he  attended 


Relation  of  Christ  to  Sabbath  of  the  Jews.     159 

a  feast  at  a  Pharisee's  house  on  the  Sabbath  day. 
This  would  involve  the  preparation  of  a  fire,  etc., 
which  was  forbidden.  Surely  this  does  not  indi- 
cate that  he  held  even  with  ordinary  reverence 
the  fourth  commandment.  Those  commandments 
that  he  deemed  essential  and  useful  he  specifically 
mentioned,  and  no  law  that  he  considered  impor- 
tant was  left  unnoticed.  He  picked  out  and 
applied  the  ethical  laws  of  the  Old  Testament 
that  were  specially  fitting  to  the  time  and  coun- 
try. He  saw  that  the  Sabbath  was  only  a  form 
—  that  of  rest  merely  —  and  as  such  it  was  not 
essential  in  the  new  kingdom. 

A  rehearsal  of  the  Sabbath  controversies  in 
which  Christ  figured,  will  help  us  to  gain  a  clear 
view  of  the  question,  for  in  them  the  motive  of 
Christ  is  plainly  revealed.  He  engaged  in  six 
controversies,  with  the  Jews  concerning  the  Sab- 
bath. The  first  is  found  in  that  chapter  which 
relates  to  the  healing  of  the  cripple  at  Bethesda. 
In  the  first  place,  Jesus  told  the  man  to  take  up 
his  bed  and  walk.  Now  this  is  certainly  a  viola- 
tion of  the  law,  "  Thou  shalt  bear  no  burden  on  the 
sabbath  day."  His  reason  for  doing  so  is  boldly 
expressed  thus,  "  My  Father  worketh  even  until 
now,  and  I  work."  ^  He  offers  no  excuse  for 
1  John  V.  17. 


160     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

breaking  the  Sabbath.  This  is  a  direct  contra- 
diction to  the  priestly  idea,  where  we  are  in- 
structed to  rest  because  God  rested,  but  Christ 
reverses  it,  and  says  that  he  works  because  God 
works.  In  fact  this  really  does  away  with  the 
Sabbath,  at  least  so  far  as  the  rest  element  is 
concerned.  On  that  day  "  The  grass  grows,  the 
rain  rains,  and  the  wind  blows,"  which  are  God's 
works.  Now  if  God  himself  works  and  does 
such  things  on  the  Sabbath,  the  only  inference 
from  it  is,  that  it  is  legitimate  for  man  to 
work  on  that  day.  There  seems  to  be  no  escape 
from  the  conclusion  that  Christ  intended  or 
wished  to  wipe  out  the  institution  as  it  then 
existed. 

The  second  controversy  relates  to  the  plucking 
and  eating  of  corn  by  Christ  and  his  disciples.^ 
We  gather  from  the  context  that  Christ  and  his 
disciples  were  out  travelling  on  the  Sabbath  Day, 
which  was  in  itself  a  disregard  of  the  command- 
ment, *'Let  no  man  go  out  of  his  place  on  the 
Sabbath  Day."  Furthermore  the  act  of  plucking 
and  winnowing  corn  was  contrary  to  their  law, 
unless  life  were  involved ;  and  here  life  was  not 
involved.  It  was  laid  down  as  a  general  principle, 
"  That  all  danger  to  life  should  supersede  the 
1  Luke  vi.  1. 


Relation  of  Christ  to  Sabbath  of  the  Jews.     161 

Sabbath."  ^  According  to  Schwab,  the  Master  and 
his  disciples,  were  out  for  a  walk  in  the  suburbs 
of  Capernaum,  where  they  could  get  food  if  they 
wanted  to.^  The  answer  to  one  objection  to  this 
conduct  was  the  recital  about  David's  eating  the 
shewbread.  David  broke  the  Levitical  law  for  the 
same  reason  that  the  priests  labored  on  the  Sab- 
bath, that  is,  because  they  were  doing  the  will  of 
God.  We  find  here  the  mild  hint  that  if  any  are 
truly  in  the  service  of  God  the  form  of  resting  may 
be  ignored.  This  practically  abolished  the  Jewish 
Sabbath.  In  this  controversy  Christ  further 
added,  "  The  Son  of  man  is  Lord  of  the  Sabbath." 
The  implication  is  that  his  commands  superseded 
the  law  of  Moses.  He  was  Master  of  the  Sabbath 
and  could  change,  or  do  away  with  it,  as  the 
circumstances  demanded.  This  evidently  could 
not  be  a  moral  principle,  for  a  moral  principle 
could  never  be  done  away  with,  or  be  changed  at 
will,  neither  is  any  one  master  of  these  principles, 
but  they  are  master  of  us.  The  facts  of  the 
matter  seem  to  be  that  Christ  wished  to  annul  the 
formal  Sabbath  together  with  the  law  and  put  in 
its  stead  divine  life  and  righteousness. 

1  The  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of  Christ,  by  Schurer,  Div. 
II.,  Vol.  ii.,  104. 

2  The  Sabbath  in  History  by  Schwab. 


162     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

The  next  controversy  was  concerning  the  man 
with  a  withered  hand.^  Here  again  he  broke 
through  the  Jewish  conception  of  the  law.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Rabbinical  law,  if  there  was  danger 
of  death,  work  was  to  be  allowed ;  but  the  Jews 
thought  in  this  case  there  was  no  danger  of  death 
before  the  next  day. 

The  fourth  controversy,  recorded  in  John,  refers 
to  the  restoration  of  a  blind  man  to  sight.  For  so 
doing  Christ  justifies  himself  with  the  reply :  "  We 
must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sent  me  while  it 
is  day ;  the  night  cometh  when  no  man  can  work."  ^ 
The  special  sacredness  of  one  day  in  seven  is  not 
conceded  here,  but  it  is  in  accord  with  his  purpose 
to  break  down  all  formalism  and  reveal  the  true 
religion. 

The  fifth  controversy  is  that  over  the  curing  of 
the  paralytic  woman,^  and  the  sixth,  that  where 
a  man  was  cured  of  the  dropsy,*  which  are  similar 
in  kind  to  that  of  the  third  controversy. 

Christ  said  nothing  indicating  that  he  wished  to 
perpetuate  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  Two  statements 
in  his  ministry  have  been  much  emphasized.  The 
first  is :  "  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man  and  not 
man    for   the   Sabbath."^      The  content   of    this 

1  Math.  xii.  10,  13.     «  Luke  xiii.  11,  17.       &  Mark  ii.  27. 

2  John  ix.  4.  *  Ibid.,  xiv.  1,  6. 


Relation  of  Christ  to  Sahhath  of  the  Jews.      163 

statement  is,  that  the  Sabbath  was  originally 
designed  for  man's  good  ;  it  took  a  backward  look 
upon  the  day  and  gave  the  reason  for  its  origin. 
It  was  designed  to  be  instrumental  in  disciplimng 
and  training  a  tribe  of  slaves  to  respect  and  rever- 
ence God,  and  finally  to  unfold  the  principle  of 
love  or  God-likeness.  The  future  is  neither  in- 
volved in  this,  nor  is  there  a  command  to  observe 
it  implied.  The  future  is  no  more  included  in 
this  than  the  command  that  Christ  gave  to  the 
leper  to  go  and  show  himself  to  the  priest  and 
offer  for  his  cleansing,  according  as  Moses  com- 
manded. ^  In  the  parable  of  the  rich  man  and 
Lazarus,  the  text  is  found  :  "  They  have  Moses 
and  the  prophets,  let  them  hear  them."  It  is  per- 
tinent to  inquire.  How  far  into  the  future  did 
Christ  intend  these  words  to  reach  ?  The  "  Spirit 
of  Christ "  which  casts  aside  the  authority  of  Moses 
and  the  prophets,  lays  aside  also  the  "  Sabbath  for 
man  "  text. 

The  second  statement  refers  to  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  and  is  expressed  in  these  words  :  "  Pray 
that  your  flight  be  not  in  winter,  neither  on  a  Sab- 
bath." 2  Now  the  city  gates  were  closed  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  so  therefore  their  escape  was  made 
impossible  on  that  day.  If  their  flight  was  in  the 
1  Luke  V.  14.  2  Math.  xxiv.  20. 


164     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

winter  they  would  perish  in  the  mountains.  His 
reasons  for  this  injunction  are  then  obvious  to  all. 
It  is  plain  that  he  thought  the  institution  of  the 
Sabbath  would  continue  after  his  death  among  the 
Jews,  at  least  beyond  the  time  of  the  city's  de- 
struction ;  but  this  is  not  commanding  its  eternal 
observance.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  he 
would  have  done  away  with  the  Sabbath  even 
before  this  or  before  his  death,  if  love  could  have 
been  substituted.  "  A  new  commandment,"  Christ 
says,  **I  give  unto  you  that  ye  love  one  another."^ 
He  plainly  taught  that  obedience  to  the  Sabbath 
commandment  was  not  necessary  to  insure  an  en- 
trance into  heaven.  The  incident  connected  with 
the  young  ruler  unmistakably  suggests  this  truth. 
In  answer  to  the  inquiries  about  eternal  life, 
Chiist  told  him  to  keep  the  following  command- 
ments :  Thou  shalt  not  kill,  thou  shalt  not  commit 
adultery.  Thou  shalt  not  steal.  Thou  shalt  not 
bear  false  witness.  Honor  thy  father  and  mother : 
and  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  ^ 
Only  five  commandments  of  the  decalogue  are 
mentioned.  Can  one  therefore  ignore  the  other 
five  and  yet  enter  heaven?  If  we  closely  note 
each  of  the  five  omitted,  we  must  see  the  reason 
for  his  ignoring  them.  The  first  commandment 
1  John  xiii.  34.  2  Math.  xix.  18. 


Relation  of  Christ  to  Sabbath  of  the  Jews.     165 

was  not  to  worship  idols.  This  was  applicable  to 
the  Jew  only  when  he  was  practising  idolatry,  and 
does  not  involve  a  command  to  worship  the  tr^e 
and  living  God.  The  second  commandment,  not 
to  make  graven  images,  only  refers  to  tribes  in  the 
habit  of  image  worship,  and  is  not  an  exhortation 
to  love  the  God  of  the  Jews.  The  third  command- 
ment, not  to  mention  the  name  of  Yahweh  —  the 
national  name  for  the  God  of  the  Jews  —  is 
utterly  at  variance  with  the  conception  of  propriety 
in  divine  worship.  For  a  more  thorough  exami- 
nation of  this  commandment  see  the  chapter  on 
"Moral  Significance  of  the  Laws  of  the  Decalogue." 
The  fourth  commandment,  "  Keep  the  sabbath  day 
holy  "  was  a  ceremonial  commandment  to  merely 
rest  from  labor  as  an  evidence  of  loyalty  to  God. 
This  is  simply  an  outward  form  whose  authority 
for  observance  arises  not  from  the  nature  of  things 
but  from  a  formal  command.  The  tenth  command- 
ment is  "  Thou  shalt  not  covet."  This  may  be 
right  or  wrong  according  to  what  is  coveted. 
Paul  says,  "  Covet  earnestly  the  best  gifts."  In 
this  case  coveting  is  all  right.  We  are  then  to 
covet  that  which  is  good  and  avoid  coveting  that 
which  is  wrong.  When  the  command  says,  "  Thou 
shalt  not  covet,"  it  is  meant  in  an  evil  sense. 
It  seems  from  Christ's  words  that  obedience  to 


166     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

the  remaining  five  commandments,  viz.,  the  fifth, 
sixth,  seventh,  eighth,  ninth,  was  necessary  to  gain 
an  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  So 
Christ  himself  reduced  the  decalogue  to  a  penta- 
logue. 

From  this  review  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  the 
attitude  of  Christ  to  the  Sabbath  was  that  of  pas- 
sive obedience,  but  with  determined  aim,  to  set  up 
in  its  place  his  kingdom  of  righteousness  and  love 
in  the  hearts  of  men. 


The  Jewish  Sabbath   Abolished.  167 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE   JEWISH    SABBATH   ABOLISHED. 

It  evidently  was  the  purpose  of  Christ  to  es- 
tablish a  spiritual  religion,  with  only  the  most  nec- 
essary ceremonies.  A  religion,  which  would  manifest 
itself  in  acts  prompted  by  the  disposition  of  the 
heart,  rather  than  in  outward  forms  and  ordinances 
having  no  relation  with  daily  life,  was  the  ideal 
he  constantly  kept  in  mind.  The  key  note  of  his 
ministry  was  given,  as  he  conversed  with  the 
woman  of  Samaria  when  she  came  to  the  well  to 
draw  water.  This  is  his  statement:  ''But  the 
hour  cometh  and  now  is,  when  the  true  worship- 
pers shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  truth."  ^ 
This  verse  at  one  stroke  wiped  away  all  outward 
forms,  so  far  as  they  were  considered  essential  to 
godliness.  His  whole  system  of  religion  rested  on 
two  pillars,  the  one  was  love  to  God  and  the  other 
love  to  man,  without  the  special  requirement  of 
temple  exercises.  Towards  the  close  of  his  minis- 
try love  was  the  only  sign  of  a  child  of  God.  In 
1  John  iv.  23. 


168     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday/, 

his  last  sermon  to  his  disciples  he  gave  a  new  com- 
mandment in  the  words,  "  A  new  commandment  I 
give  unto  you,  that  ye  love  one  another ;  as  I  have 
loved  you  that  ye  also  love  one  another."  ^  He 
then  declared  that  whosoever  believed  in  him  and 
followed  him  should  be  saved.  Upon  the  depar- 
ture of  Christ  his  disciples  continued  to  emphasize 
the  spiritual  heart  worship  without  the  necessity 
of  the  requirements  of  the  law.  To  them  Christ 
was  all  in  all.  Through  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christ,  they  in  a  measure  lost  sight 
of  the  law.  If  they  had  not  the  spirit  of  Christ 
they  were  none  of  his.  They  were  required  to 
"j9W^  on  Christ. '^^  Christ  in  them  was  their  "  hope 
of  glory."  They  were  also  to  be  baptized  unto 
him.  He  represented  himself  as  the  hght  of  the 
world ;  also  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life.  He 
was  the  true  vine  and  all  were  to  abide  in  him. 
He  was  going  to  the  other  world  to  prepare  a  place 
for  them  and  then  to  come  again  to  take  them 
home  to  mansions  above.  The  law  lost  its  super- 
stitious reverence  when  compared  with  the  tran- 
scendent  light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness. 

In  the  letters  of  the  apostles  almost  every  epistle 
abounds  with  references  to  the  aboHtion  of  the 
law.     All  did  not  share  these  views  at  first,  but 

1  John  xiii.  34. 


The  Jewish  Sabbath  Abolished.  169 

the  spirit  of  truth  was  now  working  and  guiding. 
So  a  council  was  called  at  Jerusalem  to  decide 
what  was  obligatory  upon  Gentile  Christians.  All 
Paul's  epistles  make  it  clear  that  the  Mosaic  Law 
was  displaced  by  the  law  of  Christ.  In  the 
letter  to  the  Galatian  Church,  speaking  with  refer- 
ence to  the  Abrahamic  Covenant,  Paul  says,  "  The 
law  was  added  because  of  transgressions  till  the 
seed  should  come,"  etc.^  What  law  was  in  opera- 
tion before  the  seed  or  Christ  came  ?  It  was  the 
Mosaic  law,  and  when  Christ  came  then  it  was  of 
service  no  longer. 

The  law  was  looked  upon  in  the  light  of  tutor 
to  train  for  a  higher  stage  of  life.  In  this  connec- 
tion Paul  declares,  that  the  "law  hath  been  our 
tutor  to  bring  us  unto  Christ,  but  now  that  faith 
[in  Christ]  is  come,  we  are  no  longer  under  a 
tutor."  2  Is  this  the  ceremonial  law,  as  is  claimed 
by  a  certain  class  of  people?  In  the  preceding 
verse  it  reads,  "  But  before  faith  [in  Christ]  came, 
we  were  kept  in  ward  under  the  law  shut  up  unto 
the  faith  that  should  be  afterwards  revealed." 
What  law  were  the  Jews  under  before  Christ 
came,  the  ceremonial  or  moral  ?  No  other  answer 
can  be  given  than  that  of  the  Mosaic  law. 

The  law  was  also  looked  upon  as  prophetic  of 

1  Gal.  iii.  19.  2  ibid.,  24. 


170    Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhatli  and  Sunday. 

a  better  state  of  things.  This  idea  is  clearly  pre- 
sented in  the  text,  ''Let  no  man  therefore  judge 
you  in  meat  or  in  drink,  or  in  respect  of  a  feast 
day,  or  a  new  moon,  or  a  Sabbath  day;  which 
are  a  shadow  of  things  to  come ;  but  the  body  is  of 
Christ's."^  According  to  this  the  Sabbath  was  a 
shadow,  and  when  we  have  the  substance  the 
mission  of  the  shadow  is  ended.  The  assertion 
is  made  by  at  least  one  body  of  Christians  that 
the  Sabbath  here  refers  to  certain  Sabbatic  feasts, 
the  Sabbatic  year,  and  the  year  of  Jubilee.  In 
the  first  place  it  states  distinctly  "  A  Sabbath  day." 
In  the  second  place  the  same  lists  mentioned  in  the 
verse  above  are  frequently  found  in  the  Law  and 
the  Prophets  and  comprise  the  whole  list  of 
special  days — weekly  Sabbaths,  new  moons,  and 
annual  feasts.  In  Ezekiel  the  prince  makes  his 
offerings  for  the  people  at  ''the  feasts,  in  the 
new  moons  and  in  the  Sabbaths."  No  sacred  day 
is  left  out,  neither  could  it  be,  for  sacred  days 
must  have  their  appropriate  offerings,  the  prince 
being  the  officiating  priest,  and  to  drop  out  a 
sacred  day  would  be  an  inexcusable  offence  against 
God.  The  context  goes  on  to  prescribe  the  special 
offerings  for  the  Sabbath  day,  the  special  offerings 
for  the  new  moon,  and  the  special  offerings  for  the 
1  Col.  ii.  16. 


The  Jewish  Sabbath  Abolished,  171 

feasts.  Now  these  three  kinds  of  days  are  identi- 
cal in  meaning  and  expression  with  the  verse  we 
have  been  considering;  therefore  the  Sabbath 
spoken  of  is  the  weekly  Sabbath  day. 

We  are  plainly  told  in  the  letter  to  the  Ephe- 
sians  that  the  law  is  abolished.  In  the  second 
chapter  the  apostle  is  showing  how  Christ  made 
Jews  and  Gentiles  both  one,  having  broken  down 
the  middle  wall  of  partition  between  them,  and 
then  goes  on  to  say :  "  Having  abolished  in  his 
flesh  the  enmity,  even  the  law  of  commandments 
contained  in  ordinances ;  that  he  might  create  in 
himself  of  the  twain  one  new  man."  ^  The 
commandments  were  none  other  than  all  laws 
contained  in  the  Jewish  code. 

The  sacred  Word  goes  one  step  farther  and 
declares  that  the  law  is  blotted  out.  The  writer 
of  Colossians  affirms,  that  while  they  were  dead 
in  their  sins  Christ  quickened  them  and  forgave 
them  their  trespasses,  and  adds, "  Having  blotted 
out  the  bond  written  in  ordinances  that  was 
against  us,  which  was  contrary  to  us ;  and  hath 
taken  it  out  of  the  way  nailing  it  to  the  cross."  ^ 
The  ordinances  or  laws  that  were  against  them 
were  those  that  produced  sin  and  death,  and  not 
merely  ritual  laws. 

1  Eph.  ii.  15.  2  Col.  ii.  14. 


172    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

Another  passage  similar  in  thought  to  the 
above  is  found  in  the  letter  to  the  church  of 
Galatia.  The  author  of  the  epistle  draws  the 
analogy  between  the  two  sons  of  Abraham  and 
the  two  covenants.  The  son  of  the  bondwoman, 
born  after  the  flesh,  represented  the  old  covenant 
from  Sinai ;  and  the  son  of  the  freewoman,  bom 
by  promise,  represented  the  new  covenant.  This 
is  followed  by  the  quotation,  ''cast  out  the  hand- 
maid and  her  son:  for  the  son  of  the  handmaid 
shall  not  inherit  with  the  son  of  the  freewoman. 
Wherefore  brethren,  we  are  not  children  of  a 
handmaid,  but  of  the  freewoman."  ^  This  unmis- 
takably supports  the  idea  that  the  law  is  cast  out 
or  abolished. 

The  following  verses  are  conclusive  regarding 
the  abolition  of  the  Mosaic  law.  "  God  sent 
forth  his  son,  born  of  a  woman,  born  under  the 
law,  that  he  might  redeem  them  which  were  under 
the  law."  2  Was  it  the  ceremonial  law  or  part  of 
the  Jewish  law  that  Christ  was  born  under  ?  It 
was  the  complete  Jewish  legal  system,  and  now 
they  are  redeemed  from  it  by  Christ. 

We  have  come  now  to  the  specific  declaration 
that  when  one  is  led  by  the  Spirit  he  is  not 
under  the  law.  "  But  if  ye  are  led  by  the  Spirit 
1  Gal.  iv.  30.  2  Ibid.,  4,  5. 


The  Jewish  Sabbath  Abolished.  173 

ye  are  not  under  the  law."  ^  To  make  sure  what 
law  is  meant,  it  is  preceded  in  the  context  with 
"  For  the  whole  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  even 
in  this,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  ^ 
It  is  evident  from  this  that  "love"  which  is 
identical  with  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  is  the  sub- 
stitute for  the  law,  not  some  commands  of  the  law, 
but,  as  the  text  says,  the  whole  law.  The  same 
thought  is  expressed  in  the  letter  to  the  Roman 
church  in  the  words,  "For  sin  shall  not  have 
dominion  over  you;  for  ye  are  not  under  law 
but  under  grace."  ^  The  law  referred  to  in  the 
quotation  has  a  moral  element  in  it,  because  when 
broken  it  produces  sin.  It  must  then  be  the 
Jewish  law  as  a  whole. 

The  Roman  converts  were  taught  that  they 
were  "  discharged  from  the  law."  The  glad  mes- 
sage is  preceded  by  these  words :  "  When  we 
were  in  the  flesh,  the  sinful  passions  which  were 
through  the  law,  wrought  in  our  members  to 
bring  forth  fruit  unto  death,"  and  then  adds, 
"  But  now  we  have  been  discharged  from  the 
law."*  An  Armenian  taken  out  of  the  hand 
of  the  cruel  Turk,  and  brought  to  this  "  Land  of 
the  free,"  is  delivered  from  the  law  of  the  Turks 

1  Gal.  V.  18.  3  Kom.  vi.  14. 

2  Ibid.,  V.  14.  *  Ibid.,  vii.  6. 


174     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

and  no  longer  under  their  dominion.  Paul  had 
a  similar  experience.  They  were  ground  down 
under  the  multitudinous  laws  of  Moses,  in  bond- 
age, miserable  and  wretched,  but  Christ  took  them 
out  of  this  condition,  giving  them  freedom  and 
happiness. 

The  church  in  Galatia  was  instructed  that 
Christ  had  redeemed  them  from  the  curse  of  the 
law.  What  law,  with  its  curse,  were  they  under  ? 
Why  the  book  of  the  law  as  is  expressed  in  a  verse 
in  this  connection.  "  Cursed  is  every  one  that 
continueth  not  in  all  things  that  are  written  in  the 
book  of  the  law."  ^  Not  a  part  of  the  law,  but 
all  things  in  the  book  of  the  law.  A  parallel  is 
found  in  the  case  of  a  slave  who  is  purchased  of 
his  master  and  made  a  freeman.  He  is  no  longer 
under  the  penalties  of  the  slave  law.  So  is  the 
slave  to  the  law  under  bondage,  but  when  he  is 
redeemed  or  bought  with  a  price,  he  is  freed  from 
the  old  law  and  consequently  freed  from  its  curse 
or  penalty. 

Paul  emphatically  declares  that  "  we  are  dead 
to  the  law  by  the  body  of  Christ,"  and  makes  a 
comparison  to  the  woman  whose  first  husband 
died  and  was  wedded  to  a  second  one.^  Now  she 
is  no  longer  under  the  law  of  the  first,  for  he  is 
1  Gal.  iii.  10.  «  Rom.  vii.  2. 


The  Jewish  Sabbath  Abolished.  175 

dead,  but  rather  subject  to  another.  The  law  in 
the  text  refers  to  the  whole  law  including  the 
decalogue,  for  reading  on  a  little,  there  is  found  a 
commandment,  "  Thou  shalt  not  covet,"  particu- 
larized, which  is  taken  from  the  commandments 
written  on  stones. 

"  The  ministration  of  death  (law)  written  and 
engraven  on  stones/'^  which  was  done  away  with, 
is  a  strong  text  substantiating  the  theory  of  the 
abolition  of  the  law.  An  able  authority  in  a  very 
recent  work  makes  the  statement  that  all  that  the 
Scriptures  tell  us  is  that,  "  The  glory  of  Moses' 
countenance  was  to  be  done  away."  In  the  con- 
text Paul,  while  endeavoring  to  encourage  the 
loyalty  of  the  Corinthians,  and  impressing  upon 
them  the  genuineness  of  his  ministry  —  the  min- 
istry of  the  Spirit  —  shows  that  the  excellency  of 
his  ministry  is  superior  to  the  ministry  of  the  law 
as  righteousness  is  superior  to  condemnation.  In 
the  course  of  his  argument  he  says,  "  But  if  the 
ministration  of  death  written  and  engraven  on 
stones  came  with  glory,  etc."  Now  it  was  the  law 
that  was  engraven  on  stones,  and  it  was  that,  that 
was  glorious,  and  Moses'  countenance  was  only 
typical  of  the  law.  Again  he  gives  the  same 
thought  in  the  statement,  "  For  if  the  ministra- 
1  2  Cor.  iii.  7. 


176     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

tion  of  condemnation  be  glory,  much  rather 
doth  the  ministration  of  righteousness  exceed  in 
glory."  It  is  quite  evident  that  the  ministry  of 
condemnation  is  the  ministry  of  the  law,  for  the 
apostle  says  in  Romans  the  law  brought  forth 
wrath,  sin,  death,  and  condemnation.  Here  is 
his  matchless  conclusion.  "  For  if  that  which 
passeth  away  was  with  glory,  much  more  that 
which  remaineth  is  in  glory."  If  it  was  the  glory 
of  Moses'  countenance  that  passed  away,  then 
substitute  that  thought  in  the  above  quotation 
and  it  would  read  "  For  the  glory  of  Moses'  coun- 
tenance was  with  glory,"  etc.  It  is  needless  to 
remark  that  the  expression  is  meaningless  and 
must  be  rejected.  Some  real  thing  passed  away 
that  was  glorious,  and  some  real  thing  was  substi- 
tuted for  it,  existing  to-day,  that  was  more  glori- 
ous.^ Paul  evidently  was  contrasting  the  law  and 
the  gospel,  the  former  having  passed  away  while 
the  latter  yet  remains. 

The  first  covenant  *'  is  becoming  old  and  is  nigh 
to  vanishing  away,"  and  "  He  taketh  away  the 
first  that  he  may  establish  the  second,"  ^  are  texts 
of  great  value  in  this  relation.  The  second  cove- 
nant comes  into  force  at  the  death  of  Christ,  at 
which  time  the  first  covenant  has  passed  away. 
1  2  Cor,  iii.  2  Heb.  ix.  and  x.  Chaps. 


The  Jewish  Sabbath  Abolished.  177 

The  first  covenant  is  here  described ;  and  in  it 
mention  is  made  of  the  tables  of  the  covenant,  or 
the  tables  of  stone  on  which  the  decalogue  was 
written.  This  new  and  second  covenant,  which 
comes  into  operation  at  the  death  of  the  testator, 
is  found  in  Jeremiah  and  in  Hebrews.  The  tables 
of  the  law  are  taken  away  and  a  new  code  estab- 
lished, in  which  God's  law  is  put  into  the  mind 
and  heart.  So  we  are  under  the  new  covenant  and 
the  old  covenant  or  law  is  taken  away,  even  what 
is  written  on  tables  of  stone.  If  we  take  this  as 
the  language  implies,  we  cannot  avoid  the  infer- 
ence that  the  law,  including  the  decalogue  as  a 
Jewish  code,  is  abolished. 

One  thing  could  not  be  made  plainer  to  those 
under  Paul's  supervision,  and  that  is,  they  were 
free  from  the  law  that  brought  forth  sin  and  death, 
while  they  were  under  the  law  of  the  Spirit. 
"  For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus 
made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death." 
Then  he  goes  on  to  show  that  "  what  the  law  could 
not  do  "  was  effected  by  Christ.  Its  purpose  was 
to  produce  spiritual  life  and  righteousness.  The 
commandment,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal,"  gave  no 
power  to  overcome  the  inward  impulse  to  stealing, 
but  the  love  for  Christ  and  the  appropriation  of 
his  spirit  drove  out  the  desire  for  stealing,  thus 


178     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

giving  spiritual  power  and  a  righteous  life.  That 
great  work,  the  law  could  not  do ;  therefore,  it 
was  abolished. 

The  Scriptures  make  plain  that  we  are  not 
justified  by  the  deeds  of  the  law.  We  are  posi- 
tively told,  that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  with- 
out the  works  of  the  law.  ^  Again,  "  Because  by 
the  works  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in 
his  sight."  2  u  YoT  through  the  law  cometh  the 
knowledge  of  sin."  Is  this  the  ceremonial  law? 
Does  the  ceremonial  law  produce  sin?  No, 
assuredly  no  !  It  must  have  a  moral  element  in 
it  to  bring  forth  sin,  so  the  law  understood  is 
the  whole  Jewish  law.  In  this  chapter  the  author 
shows  that  all  Jews  and  Gentiles  have  sinned  and 
come  short  of  the  glory  of  God.  The  law  could 
not  put  new  life  into  them,  but  a  substitute  was 
found  in  Christ  and  by  him  are  all  justified. 
"  But  now  the  righteousness  of  God  without  the 
law  is  manifested,  being  witnessed  by  the  law  and 
the  prophets"  is  a  self-evident  text.  No  other 
thought  than  the  five  books  of  Moses  is  permissible 
from  the  language  of  the  verse.  It  is  only  by  the 
cleverest  kind  of  jugglery  that  any  other  thought 
can  be  maintained  than  that  the  law  was  the  five 
books  of  the  law. 

1  RoDi.  iii.  28.  2  ibij.^  20. 


The  Jewish  Sabbath  Abolished.  179 

The  decision  of  the  Council  of  Jerusalem  ought 
to  settle  the  matter.     This  decision  was  the  ex- 
pression of  the  whole  Church,  including  the  apos- 
tles, elders ,  and  brethren,  assembled  in  Jerusalem 
in  A.D.  54.     It  seems  that  when  the  Gentiles  em- 
braced  Christianity,  there    arose    two   parties    or 
factions  in  the  Church,  a   Jewish  faction  and  a 
Gentile  faction.     The  Jewish  element  maintained 
that  all  must  be  circumcised  and  keep  the  whole 
law,  the   other  party  held  that  Christianity  was 
something  different  from  Judaism  and  not  under 
its  domination.     The  controversy  continued  for  a 
long  time,  but  at  last  the  Church  met  together 
and  ended  the  struggle.     This  Council  required 
only  four  things  of  the  Gentile  converts.     They 
were:  '*That  ye  abstain  from  things  sacrificed  to 
idols,  and  from  blood,  and  from  things  strangled, 
and   from  fornication."^     These   four   provisions 
from   the   Mosaic   law   were   imposed   upon   the 
Gentiles  without  the  least  mention  of  a  Sabbath 
or  any  other  holy  day.     The  Council  could  not 
have  ignored  it  if   it  were  still  binding  on  the 
Gentiles.     This  was   the   great  emancipation  act 
for   the    Gentiles,  in    which  all    other   things    of 
the  law  were  swept  away,  including  the   Jewish 
Sabbath. 

1  Acts  XV.  29. 


180     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

There  is  not,  however,  unanimity  among  Chris- 
tian scholars  regarding  the  doing  away  of  the  law. 
A  small  minority  hold  to  the  binding  effect  of 
the  law,  and  they  fortify  themselves  behind  a  few 
texts  of  Scripture,  paying  little  heed  to  what  is 
clearly  said  on  the  contrary.  We  shall  now  de- 
vote a  little  space  to  objections  raised  by  those 
who  oppose  this  view,  and  give  them  a  fair  hear- 
ing, carefully  weighing  the  texts  advanced  to 
support  their  position :  — 

The  first  proof  text  is :  "  It  is  easier  for  heaven 
and  earth  to  pass  away  than  for  one  tittle  of  the 
law  to  fail."^  This  truly  could  not  mean  the 
letter  of  the  law,  for  we  find  Jesus,  in  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  abolishing  portions  of  the  written 
law.  Here  are  specimens  of  his  authoritative 
action  :  "  Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said  to  them 
of  old  time.  Thou  shalt  not  forswear  thyself,  but 
shalt  perform  unto  the  Lord  thine  oaths :  but  I 
say  unto  you^  Swear  not  at  all. "  ^  In  this  particular 
instance  Christ  annuls  statutes  contained  in  the 
books  of  the  law.  "  Ye  have  heard  that  it  was 
said.  An  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth ; 
but  /  say  unto  you^  That  ye  resist  not  him  that  is 
evil^^"*  etc.^  The  law  of  revenge  is  not  simply 
changed,  but  completely  prohibited.     "  Ye  have 

1  Luke  xvi.  17.        2  Math.  v.  33,  34.        »  Ibid.,  38,  39. 


The  Jewish  Sabbath  Abolished.  181 

heard  that  it  was  said,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor, and  hate  thine  enemy,  but  I  say  unto  you. 
Love  your  enemies,''^  ^  Again  the  decree  of  the 
Jewish  Lawgiver  is  abolished.  There  were  many 
laws,  some  of  which  were  important  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Jews,  that  were  completely  wiped  out  by  the 
Master  himself,  and  one  of  his  own  inserted  in  its 
place.  If  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  were  delivered 
all  at  one  time,  he  evidently  did  not  mean  the 
letter  of  the  law,  but  rather  the  spirit.  His  car- 
dinal commandments  are :  *'  Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy 
soul,  and  with  all  thy  strength,  and  with  all  thy 
mind,"  and  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself."  On  these  two  commandments  hang  all 
the  law  and  the  prophets.  They  constitute  the 
heart  of  religion.  They  show  that  a  right  state 
of  the  heart  is  a  sufficient  substitute  for  the 
performance  of  the  law.  If,  as  it  is  asserted, 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  was  a  collection  of 
sayings  from  different  parts  of  his  active  life, 
then  this  proof  text  was  given  in  the  first  days 
of  his  ministry,  and  those  sayings  destructive  of 
the  written  law  were  given  in  a  later  period  of 
his  labors.  This  is  not  improbable,  for  we  see  a 
broadening  and  growing  process  in  his  teachings 
1  Math.  V.     43,  44. 


182     Scieyitific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

and  work.  For  instance,  his  method  of  present- 
ing truth  at  first  was  direct,  but  at  a  later  stage 
of  his  ministry  he  taught  by  parables,  giving 
at  the  same  time  the  reason  for  his  change. 
Again,  at  first  he  claimed  to  be  sent  to  the  lost 
sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  but  in  the  closing- 
days  of  his  life  we  find  his  mission  was  to  all  the 
world,  "  to  draw  all  men  unto  himself." 

The  second  text  of  those  who  maintain  the  legal 
view  is  found  in  the  familiar  seventh  chapter  of 
Romans.  It  states,  ''The  law  is  holy,  and  the 
commandment  holy,  and  righteous,  and  good."  ^ 
But  the  writer  declares  in  the  same  Epistle  that 
the  law  was  ordained  unto  death,  and  that  it 
worketh  wrath  or  evil.  ^  In  these  texts  he  is 
speaking  of  the  law  in  certain  relations.  In  the 
latter  instance  it  implies  that,  if  there  had  been  no 
law,  transgression  would  not  have  been  imputed, 
and  consequently  no  death  by  sin,  or,  in  a  word, 
the  effect  of  the  law  was  death ;  in  the  former 
case  he  is  pointing  out  the  purpose  of  the  law. 
In  verse  16  he  explains  Jiow  the  law  is  good : 
"  But  if  what  I  would  not,  that  I  do,  I  consent 
unto  the  law,  that  it  is  good."  ^  It  seems  Paul 
is  giving  his  own  experience.  When  the  law  was 
given  to  him  he  was  unable  to  live  up  to  it,  so  he 
1  Rom.  vii.  12.      2  ibid.^  iy.  15  ;  yii.  10.       »  Ibid.,  vii.  16. 


The  Jewish  Sabbath  Abolished.  183 

says  that  he  died.  The  law  produced  sin  in  him, 
and  slew  him  spiritually.  Now  the  question  to 
be  solved  was  this,  Was  the  law  sin,  seeing  it 
caused  so  much  sinfulness  in  liim  ?  The  answer 
is,  No,  "the  law  is  holy  and  righteous  and 
good  " ;  in  other  words,  the  law  is  all  right  in  its 
purpose  and  not  to  be  blamed ;  it  is  I,  (Paul) 
that  is  weak  and  sinful.  The  assertion  that  he 
was  unable  to  do  that  which  he  wished  to  do  in 
the  law,  is  an  acknowledgment  that  the  law  was 
good.  It  is  simply  equivalent  to  the  statement, 
that  the  law  is  not  to  be  blamed  for  the  sinfulness 
in  Paul.  It  is  true  the  whole  Mosaic  law  was 
good  for  its  day  and  had  a  grand  mission,  but,  as 
it  was  faulty  in  that  it  failed  to  produce  spiritual 
life,  Christ  came  to  take  its  place,  and  now  we  are 
no  longer  under  its  dominion. 

Timothy  receives  direction  from  his  spiritual 
father  concerning  the  law  in  the  words,  "  But  we 
know  that  the  law  is  good  if  a  man  use  it  law- 
fully ;  as  knowing  this,  that  the  law  is  not  made 
for  a  righteous  man,  but  for  the  lawless  and  un- 
ruly, for  the  ungodly  and  sinners,  for  the  unholy 
and  profane,  for  murderers  of  fathers  and  mur- 
derers of  mothers,  for  manslayers,  for  fornicators, 
for  abusers  of  themselves  with  men,  for  men- 
stealers,  for  liars,  for  false  swearers,  and  if  there  be 


184    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

any  other  thing  contrary  to  sound  doctrine ;  accord- 
ing to  the  gospel  of  the  glory  of  the  blessed  God 
which  was  committed  to  my  trust."  ^  The  author 
of  this  epistle  is  referring  to  some  self-conceited 
persons  who  are  trying  to  be  Rabbins  or  teachers 
of  the  law  and  talking  about  things  of  which  they 
were  ignorant.  He  states  that  the  law  is  good,  if 
one  use  it  lawfully,  that  is,  if  he  understands  its 
purpose,  aim,  limitation,  present  significance,  and 
knows  how  to  apply  it  to  a  new  dispensation  of 
things.  He  names  a  list  of  things  that  are  a  vio- 
lation of  the  teachings  of  Christ.  They  are 
wrong,  not  because  they  are  found  in  the  law, 
but  because  they  are  contrary  to  the  gospel.  Any 
Old  Testament  law  that  is  in  harmony  mth  the 
teachings  of  Christ  is  still  binding.  This  is  using 
the  law  lawfully. 

Much  emphasis  is  placed  by  some  on  the  verse, 
"  Do  we  then  make  the  law  of  none  effect  through 
faith  ?  God  forbid :  nay,  we  establish  the  law."  ^ 
It  is  claimed  that  this  is  the  Jewish  law,  or  at 
least  the  ten  commandments.  But  let  us  look 
at  the  facts  in  the  case.  It  appears  that  there 
were  some  Antinomians  who  trampled  on  all  law, 
civil,  social  and  religious,  declaring  that  "  If  ye 
believe  it  matters  little  what  ye  do."  Notice 
1  1  Tim.  i.  8-10.  2  Rom.  iii.  31. 


The  Jewish  Sabbath  Abolished.  185 

particularly  that  in  the  original  it  is  not  the  law 
but,  ''law."  It  means  only  law  in  general,  and 
not  specially  the  Jewish  code.  Who  backs  up  the 
law  of  the  state  and  nation  more  than  the  sincere 
followers  of  Christ?  Faith  in  Christ  does  estab- 
lish all  laws  of  right  doing  whether  civil  or  moral. 
No  true  Christian  can  consciously  violate  the  just 
laws  of  any  country,  but  rather  would  he  live  in 
harmony  with  them,  support  them,  stand  by  them, 
enforce  them,  and  confirm  them ;  in  other  words 
establish  them.  So  faith  in  Christ  does  lead  one 
to  make  and  maintain  or  establish  all  just  laws 
against  wrong  doing. 

Another  verse  frequently  cited  by  those  friendly 
to  the  Judaizing  tendency,  is  found  in  the  passage, 
"Circumcision  is  nothing,  and  uncircumcision  is 
nothing,  but  the  keeping  of  the  commandments  of 
God."  1  Could  Paul  mean  the  keeping  of  the  ten 
commandments  ?  He  never  enumerated  them  as 
a  condition  of  salvation.  He  did  name  five  of 
them  at  one  time,  but  no  more.  Let  us  look  at 
the  context.  He  is  giving  advice  to  the  Corin- 
thian converts,  and  in  some  cases  the  advice  is  his 
own  personal  judgment,  and  in  others  he  feels  he 
is  voicing  the  will  of  God.  In  verse  6  he  says, 
*'But  this  I  say  by  way  of  permission,  not  of 
1  1  Cor.  vii.  19. 


186     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

commandment."  ^  In  verse  10,  "I  gave  charge, 
yea,  not  I,  but  the  Lord."  In  verse  12,  "  To  the 
rest  say  I,  not  the  Lord,"  and  in  verse  25, 
"  Now  concerning  virgins  I  have  no  commandment 
of  the  Lord:  but  I  give  my  judgment."  When 
Christ  ascended,  he  through  the  Holy  Spirit  gave 
commandments  unto  the  apostles.  The  command- 
ments included  directions  to  individuals  and 
churches  which  Paul  felt  came  from  the  Holy 
Ghost.  On  this  point  he  tells  the  Corinthian  con- 
verts, * '  If  any  man  thinketh  himself  to  be  a  prophet, 
or  spiritual,  let  him  take  knowledge  of  the  things 
which  I  write  unto  you  that  they  are  the  command- 
ment of  the  Lord."  ^  This  makes  it  clear  that  the 
commandments  referred  to  were  merely  Paul's 
orders  or  directions  which  he  got  from  the  Lord  to 
certain  converts  and  churches. 

The  declaration  of  Paul  that  he  had  *'done 
nothing  against  the  people,  or  the  customs  of  our 
fathers  "  ^  is  taken  as  an  argument  that  the  law  is 
still  m  force.  While  he  labored  among  the  Jews, 
he  no  doubt  conformed  to  their  customs,  which 
was  a  wise  thing  to  do.  Any  other  course  would 
prejudice  those  whom  he  wished  to  win.  He  says 
himself,  "To  the  Jews,  I  became  as  a  Jew  that  I 
might  gain  'Jews^ "yet ' ' not  under  the  law. ' '  Because 
>  1  Oor.  vii.  6.  ^  Ibid. ,  xiv.  37.  » Acts  xxviii.  17.    ^i  Qq^,  ix.  20. 


The  Jewish  Sabbath  Abolished.  187 

he  submitted  to  circumcision  that  does  not  obligate 
us  to  do  the  same.  He  stated  clearly  and  em- 
phatically that  he  was  "  Not  under  the  law,"  was 
"  dead  to  the  law,"  was  "  delivered  from  the  law 
by  the  body  of  Christ."  He  evidently  did  not 
keep  the  customs  of  the  fathers  because  they  were 
binding  on  him,  but  because  he  could  win  more 
Jews  by  observing  them ;  hence  he  inconven- 
ienced himself  for  their  good. 

One  more  text  for  consideration  will  need 
only  a  moment's  thought.  It  is,  "  Sin  is  not 
imputed  where  there  is  no  law."  ^  Does  this 
imply  that  the  Christian  must  be  under  the 
Mosaic  law  in  order  to  know  sin  or  wrong  doing  ? 
Sin  was  in  the  world  before  the  law  was  given, 
but  the  law  brought  sin  more  clearly  to  the  con- 
sciousness or  made  "  sin  exceedingly  sinful." 
Christians  do  not  need  to  go  to  the  Old  Testament 
law  to  know  whether  they  are  doing  right  or 
wrong,  for  the  elementary  moral  laws  of  God  are 
written  in  their  minds  and  hearts.  In  the  letter 
to  Timothy  it  says,  "  The  law  was  not  made  for  a 
righteous  man,  but  for  the  lawless  and  unruly."  ^ 
Judging  by  this  verse,  the  righteous  have  no  need 
of  the  law.  If  so,  then  sin  is  not  determined  by 
the  law ;  for  if  right  and  wrong  were  determined 

1  Rom.  V.  13.  2  1  Tim.  i.  9. 


188     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

by  the  law,  then  it  must  be  of  service  to  the 
righteous,  which  is  contrary  to  the  thought  of  the 
text.  To-day  evil  or  sin  is  determined  by  our  own 
consciousness  or  laws  in  the  mind  or  heart.  With 
young  children  and  tribes  in  a  rude  stage  of 
development,  law  determines  the  rightness  or 
wrongness  of  a  thing.  After  a  certain  amount  of 
training  the  law  becomes  the  property  of  the  heart 
and  mind,  and  there  is  no  further  use  for  it  except 
for  the  evil  doer. 

In  closing  this  chapter  it  is  pertinent  to  state 
that  all  the  epistles  abound  with  references  direct 
and  indirect  to  the  abolition  of  the  law. 

This  law  is  not  a  fragment  or  some  command- 
ments of  the  law  but  the  entire  Mosaic  Law.  "  All 
of  the  law,"  "  books  of  the  law,"  the  law  that  Christ 
was  born  under,  the  old  covenant,  etc.,  is  so  defi- 
nite that  no  other  view  than  that  of  the  entire 
Mosaic  law  can  be  taken.  Now  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
was  part  of  this  law  and  as  the  whole  law  is  abol- 
ished the  Sabbath  is  also  abolished.  We  are  then 
no  longer  under  the  authority  of  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath. The  first  Christian  council  —  the  Council 
of  Jerusalem  —  took  this  position  when  it  required 
only  four  things  of  the  Gentiles,  completely  ignor- 
ing the  claims  of  the  Sabbath. 


The   Commandments  Binding  on  Christians,     189 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   COMMANDMENTS   THAT   ARE   BINDING 
ON   CHRISTIANS. 

We  have  shown  in  a  preceding  chapter  that  the 
Sabbath  law  was  abolished,  and  now  the  question 
presents  itself,  What  laws  and  commandments  are 
obli^tory  upon  the  follow;ers  of  Christ?  It  is 
pertinent  to  note  that  the  Old  Testament  was 
given  specially  to  the  Israelites.  God  does  not 
fail  to  declare  that  it  is  the  children  of  Israel  to 
whom  he  is  speaking,  and  gives  at  least  one  rea- 
son why  they  should  obey  Him  —  because  that  he 
led  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  The  law  does 
not  seem  intended  for  any  other  than  the  Hebrews, 
and  consists  in  a  collection  of  tribal  rules  and 
regulations  to  insure  justice  among  themselves  and 
loyalty  to  God  from  all.  The  decalogue  itseK  is 
introduced  in  this  manner :  "  I  am  thy  God  which 
brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the 
house  of  bondage."  It  is  plain  that  the  decalogue 
was  only  intended  for  the  Jews.     In  Deuteronomy 


190     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

the  Hebrews  were  instructed  to  keep  the  Sabbath 
because  God  brought  them  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt.  Ezekiel  tells  them  that  they  are  to  keep 
the  Sabbath  for  the  reason  that  it  is  a  sign  be- 
^  tween  God  and  Israel.  The  fifth  commandment 
has  another  Jewish  addenda  attached  to  it  con- 
sisting of  the  words :  "  That  thy  days  may  be 
long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
giveth  thee."  The  land  is  unmistakably  the 
promised  land  which  was  the  special  inheritance 
of  the  children  of  Israel.  All  of  these  laws, 
whether  civil,  ceremonial,  moral  or  religious,  were 
for  the  purpose  of  traming  and  disciplining  the 
minds  of  the  Hebrews  to  principle  and  spirit,  or 
Christ.  A  little  child  must  be  trained  by  laws 
until  he  feels  in  his  heart  the  rightness  or  the 
wrongness  of  all  the  actions  of  daily  life.  While 
passing  an  orchard  a  child  is  under  the  temptation 
to  take  its  fruit  without  the  consent  of  its  owner. 
The  only  thing  that  restrains  him  is  the  cast  iron 
law  with  its  penalty.  If  he  could  avoid  the  law 
he  would  help  himself.  On  reaching  maturity  he 
is  confronted  with  the  same  situation,  and  he  this 
time  says  No,  not  because  there  is  a  law  against 
stealing,  but  because  he  feels  in  his  heart  it  is 
wrong.  The  law  is  written  in  his  heart  and  mind,  " 
so  that  it  has  become  part  of  his  personality  or 


The    Commandments  Binding  on    Christians,     191 

conscience.  So  the  Israelites  needed  this  legal 
training  until  they  felt  in  their  hearts  the  principle 
or  spirit  of  the  law.  That  inward  feeling  of  love 
and  righteousness  was  what  the  law  pointed  to. 
He  who  is  in  possession  of  this  spirit  fulfils  the 
law  though  he  may  not  obey  the  law  in  its  letter. 
The  two  fundamental  commandments  of  the  law 
are :  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
strength,  and  with  all  thy  mind ;  and  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself."  ^  The  implication  here  is  that,  if  one 
loves  God  and  man,  he  keeps  the  whole  law  in 
spirit  and  essence,  and  the  mere  form  is  not 
necessarily  obligatory  upon  him. 

Again  when  Christ  talked  with  the  rich  young 
man,  he  enumerated  five  commandments  from  the 
decalogue  and  one  elsewhere,  which  were  con- 
ditions of  salvation.  But  the  young  man  declared 
that  he  had  kept  them  from  his  youth  up.  He 
no  doubt  had  kept  them  outwardly,  but  Christ 
gave  him  a  test  which  would  decide  whether  or 
not,  he  had  really  the  spirit  in  his  heart.  He  said, 
"  Sell  all  that  thou  hast  and  distribute  unto  the 
poor."  2  Selfishness  in  the  young  man's  heart 
caused  him  to  go  away  very  sorrowful.  These 
commandments  were  not  authoritative  because  they 
1  Luke  X.  27.  ^  ibid.,  xviii.  22. 


192     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

were  found  in  a  Jewish  law  book,  but  rather 
because  they  are  simple  moral  principles  commend- 
ing themselves  to  the  consciousness.  In  the  let- 
ter to  the  Galatian  Church,  it  says  that  all  the  law 
is  fulfilled  in  the  command :  "  Love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself,"  ^  and  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Roman 
Church  is  a  similar  declaration :  "  He  that  loveth 
his  neighbor  hath  fulfilled  the  law. '  '^  He  continues 
and  specifies  what  commandments  they  will  obey 
if  they  love  one  another.  Five  of  these  command- 
ments are  taken  from  tlie  decalogue  and  one  else- 
where. In  another  verse  he  tells  why  love  is  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law:  because  '4ove  worketh  no 
ill  to  his  neighbor,  therefore  love  is  the  fulfilling  of 
the  law." 

After  Peter's  glorious  vision  on  the  housetop 
in  Joppa  he  was  shown  its  significance  and  ex- 
pressed it  thus  :  "  I  perceive  that  God  is  no  re- 
specter of  persons ;  but  in  every  nation,  he  that 
feareth  him  and  worketh  righteousness,  is  accept- 
able to  him."  ^  Reverencing  God  and  doing  right 
are,  according  to  this,  the  conditions  of  approval 
of  God.  The  text :  "  The  Kingdom  of  heaven  is 
not  eating  and  drinking,  but  righteousness  and 
peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,"  *  bears  a  sim- 

1  Gal.  V.  14.  8  Acts  x.  34,  35. 

2  Rom.  xiii.  8.  *  Rom.  xiv.  17. 


The    Commandments  Binding  on   Christians,     193 

ilar  thought  to  the  above  and  follows  in  natural 
order.  This  new  kingdom  was  a  kingdom  of 
righteousness  and  love,  and  no  outward  iron-cast 
rules  or  ceremonies  were  demanded.  We  may 
observe  the  form  strictly,  yet  may  not  keep  the 
law.  It  does  not  matter  about  the  form  so  long 
as  we  have  the  essential  spirit  and  feeling  within. 
This  is  well  expressed  in  the  verse :  "  Neither  is 
circumcision  anything  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a 
new  creature."  ^ 

Paul  impressed  upon  the  Romans  that :  "  If 
any  man  hath  not  the  spirit  of  Christ  he  is  none 
of  his."  That  text  constitutes  the  essential  ele- 
ment in  Christianity.  The  "  Christ  in  you  "  was 
their  hope  of  glory.  The  distinctive  characteristic 
of  a  Christian  is  love.  On  that  memorable  last 
night  of  Christ  upon  earth,  he  gave  his  followers 
a  new  commandment  wliich  even  eclipsed  the 
cardinal  precept :  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself."  "  A  new  commandment,"  said  he, 
"  I  give  unto  you  that  ye  love  one  another :  even 
as  I  have  loved  you  that  ye  also  love  one 
another.  "2  Salvation  is  secured  not  by  doing  the 
law,  but  by  believing  in  Christ,  because  he  was 
the  spirit  of  God  manifested  in  the  flesh.  "  He 
that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father."  None 
1  Gal.  vi.  15.  2  John  xiii.  34. 


194    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

could  enter  in  unto  the  Father  by  the  law,  but  by 
Christ  or  the  putting  on  of  Christ. 

From  the  foregoing  it  is  very  evident  that  the 
only  condition  imposed  upon  the  early  disciples 
apart  from  believing  in  Christ  was  love  and 
righteousness  as  exemplified  by  Christ.  This  con- 
dition was  fulfilled  by  having  faith  in  him.  In 
Chapter  V.  it  was  shown  that  the  law  was  abol- 
ished and  we  were  no  longer  under  its  dominion. 
Yet  in  the  New  Testament,  in  many  instances,  Old 
Testament  commands  are  mentioned  as  still  in 
force.  This  is  true,  but  they  are  not  repeated 
because  they  are  in  the  law  book  of  the  Jews,  any 
more  than  if  they  were  in  the  law  book  of  the 
Buddhists.  They  are  put  there  because  they  are 
in  harmony  with  the  teachings  and  spirit  of  Christ. 
A  command  from  the  Buddhistic  decalogue  says, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  intoxicate  thyself."  Christians 
obey  this  command  to-day,  not  because  it  is  from 
Buddha,  but  rather  that  it  is  right  and  in  accord 
with  the  spirit  of  Christ.  A  Canadian  coming  to 
our  shores  obeys  many  laws  that  are  in  force  in 
Canada.  He  does  not  obey  them  because  they 
are  Canadian  laws,  but  because  they  are  American 
laws,  and  as  the  Canadian  laws  harmonize  with 
our  laws  they  are  binding  upon  us.  In  the  same 
manner  are  the  Old  Testament  laws  binding  on  us, 


The   Commandments  Binding  on  Christians.     195 

in  so  far  as  they  are  identical  with  the  teachings 
of  the  new  dispensation.  Whatever  law  is  found  in 
the  Old  Testament  that  is  in  harmony  with  the 
mind  and  instruction  of  the  Master,  is  obligatory 
upon  us. 

Children  are  exhorted  by  Paul  to  "  obey  their 
parents  in  the  Lord,"  ^  not  because  it  was  found 
in  the  law  but  because  "this  is  right."  Again: 
"  Children  obey  your  parents  in  all  things  ;  for  this 
is  well  pleasing  in  the  Lord."^  The  motive  then 
for  action  is  doing  right  and  pleasing  God.  One 
question  must  be  asked  upon  the  anticipation  of 
any  act,  and  that  is,  Is  it  right  ?  This  is  similar 
to  asking,  "  Does  it  comport  with  the  spirit  of  our 
Lord,  since  his  spirit  was  love,  and  love  leads  us 
to  do  what  is  right  ?  "  A  thing  must  meet  our  con- 
sciousness of  rightness  before  we  feel  an  inward 
obligation  to  do  it.  Any  law  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, Koran,  Zend  Avesta,  or  any  other  religious 
book,  must  submit  to  this  crucial  test,  "Is  it 
right  ?  "  under  the  circumstances. 

As  there  are  commandments  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, are  we  not  still  under  law?  The  command- 
ments in  the  New  Testament  are  only  directions 
given  to  individuals  or  churches  under  spe- 
cial circumstances,  and  not  written  decrees  and 
1  Eph.  vi.  1.  2  Col.  iii.  20. 


196     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday, 

ordinances  to  be  observed  for  all    future  time     by 
all   people  under  the  various  conditions  of  life. 
For  instance :    "  Salute  the  brethren  with  a  holy 
kiss  "  and  "  Sell  all  that  thou  hast  and  distribute 
to  the  poor  "  are  not  to  be  taken  literally  by  us. 
In  every  case  the  spirit  must  be  looked  for  and 
that   alone   imitated    by   the   disciple    of    Christ. 
Sometimes  the  commandment  and  the  principle  are 
expressed  in  identical  words,  then  the  command  is 
binding  for  all  time  to  come  because  it  is  the  prin- 
ciple itself.     "  Love  one  another,"  is  not  only  a 
command,  but  it  is  a  literal  moral  principle  which 
cannot  be  changed.     Though  we  have  not  Christ 
here  in  body  to  direct  us,  yet  he  sent  a  substitute  in 
the  Holy  Spirit  who  was  to  teach  us  in  all  things. 
The  new  dispensation  is  essentially  spiritual.     It 
is  purely  an  age  of  the  Spirit.     All  needed  help, 
guidance,  and  instruction  are  promised  to  be  given 
by  the  Spirit.     The  followers  of  Christ  are  born 
of  the  Spirit ;  they  are  led  by  the  Spirit ;  they  are 
to  worship  God  in  the  Spirit ;  they  are  taught  to 
pray  by  the  Spirit ;  they  must  serve  God  in  new- 
ness of  the  Spirit ;  the  Spirit  called  and  sent  forth 
apostles   to    preach;    they  were    directed   by   the 
Spirit  as  to  what  to  say  when  brought  before  rulers 
and  councils ;  the  apostles  were  instructed  by  the 
Spirit  how  to  set  things  in  order  in  the  churches ; 


The   Commandments  Binding  on   Christians.     197 

commandments  were  given  to  the  apostles  by  the 
Spirit ;  only  by  the  Holy  Spirit  can  one  say  that 
"  Jesus  is  the  Lord  "  ;  the  diversities  of  gifts  were 
by  the  same  Spirit ;  the  manifestation  of  the  Spirit 
was  given  to  every  man  to  profit  withal,  whether 
in  wisdom,  knowledge,  faith,  gifts  of  healing,  work- 
ing of  miracles,  prophecy,  discerning  of  spirits,  and 
divers  kinds  of  tongues.  As  each  one  has  direct 
access  to  God,  the  dispensation  is  a  continual  one, 
and  the  revelation  a  continual  revelation.  Where 
there  is  a  continual  revelation  direct  from  God, 
written  laws  are  no  longer  needed  for  the  details 
of  daily  life.  Then  we  are  not  to  follow  written 
commands  or  decrees  if  we  have  the  approval  of 
the  Spirit  of  God.  We  have  no  express  direction 
by  the  Spirit  in  the  New  Testament,  to  observe 
the  fourth  commandment  of  the  decalogue,  but  the 
Spirit  did  direct  men  to  establish  the  Lord's  Day 
on  which  special  worship  was  required. 


198     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE    MORAL     SIGNIFICANCE     OF     THE     LAWS     OF 
THE   DECALOGUES. 

Many  take  the  position  that  the  law  spoken  of 
in  Paul's  letters,  when  he  mentions  its  abrogation, 
is  the  ceremonial  law  and  does  not  refer  to  the 
decalogue.  The  decalogue,  it  is  claimed,  is  the 
moral  law ;  and  as  the  moral  law  is  binding  for  all 
time  to  come,  therefore  the  decalogue  cannot  be 
abolished.  Furthermore,  it  is  stated,  that  the  law 
which  Paul  declares  "  holy  and  just  and  good " 
was  nothing  else  than  the  ten  commandments ; 
and  as  the  Sabbath  commandment  is  contained  in 
the  decalogue,  therefore  the  Sabbath  is  still  in 
force.  Such  reasoning  is  fascinating  and  ingen- 
ious, but  it  will  not  bear  the  test  of  truth. 

It  is  well,  before  proceeding  further,  to  get  a 
definite  conception  of  what  is  involved  in  the  word 
*'  moral."  It  is  from  the  Latin  word  ''  moralis," 
meaning  custom  or  manner,  and  evidently  refers 
to  the  customs  and  the  manners  of  the  people  in 
their  relations  one   to  another.     It  is  defined  in 


Moral  Significance  of  the  Decalogues.    199 

Worcester 's  Dictionary ;  as,  ' '  Relating  to  or  accord- 
ing to,  the  received  and  customary  rule  of  right 
and  duty  between  man  and  man."  Butler  declares 
that  "  Moral  duties  arise  out  of  the  nature  of  the 
case  itself,  prior  to  external  command ;  positive 
duties  do  not  arise  out  of  the  nature  of  the  case, 
but  from  external  command."  Whately  intimates 
that  a  positive  precept  concerns  a  thing  that  is 
right  because  it  is  commanded;  a  moral  precept 
respects  a  thing  commanded  because  it  "  is  right." 
This  suggests  that  moral  duties  arise,  not  from 
positive  command,  but  from  the  inherent  nature  of 
man ;  they  come  from  his  common  sense  and  con- 
sciousness within.  In  all  countries,  and  in  almost 
all  tribes,  there  are  laws  against  stealing,  murder, 
etc.  Why  is  there  such  a  general  verdict  respecting 
these  forms  of  conduct  ?  The  answer  is  that  man's 
consciousness  immediately  perceives  the  wrong- 
ness  or  harmfuli^ess  of  such  action  and  he  then 
proceeds  to  make  laws  against  them.  Among  the 
lowest  tribes  to-day  if  murder  or  any  similar  of- 
fence takes  place  in  the  absence  of  a  command 
to  the  contrary,  the  victim's  friends  recognize  the 
wrong  and  speedily  avenge  it.  Who  told  them  it 
was  wrong  without  a  positive  command?  They 
felt  it  within  their  own  consciousness.  So  moral 
laws  have  their  authority  in  man's  consciousness 


200     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday/, 

of  right ;  and  positive  laws  have  their  authority  in 
the  will  of  the  ruling  power.  The  term  "  moral " 
denotes  a  rule  of  right  action  between  human  be- 
ings. If  there  were  only  a  single  individual  on 
earth,  there  would  be  no  morality,  but  as  soon  as 
a  second  individual  appears  human  relations  are 
established  and  morality  arises.  There  are  then 
three  factors  involved  in  the  conception  of  the 
word  "moral."     That  which  is  moral: 

1.  Involves  conception  of  right  conduct.  2. 
Arises  from  the  inherent  nature  of  man  or  his 
common  sense.  3.  Deals  with  human  rela- 
tions. This  brief  elucidation  is  sufficiently  lengthy 
for  our  purpose,  and  we  will  test  the  decalogue  by 
this  standard. 

It  is  reasonable  to  inquire  here  what  decalogue. 
It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  there  are  nine  deca- 
logues,^  differing  somewhat  from  each  other ;  but 
we  shall  only  confine  our  attention  to  three  deca- 
logues, which  were  written  upon  tables  of  stone. 
The  Deuteronomist  decalogue  differs  from  the 
"  E  "  decalogue  contained  in  the  twentieth  chap- 
ter of  Exodus,  in  giving  the  reason  for  the  Sab- 
batic commandment.  The  former  stated  it  thus  : 
"Observe  the  sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy,  as  the 
Lord  thy  God  commanded  thee.  Six  days  shalt 
1  The  Higher  Criticism  of  the  Hexateuch  by  Briggs,  p.  232. 


Moral  Significance   of  the  Decalogues.    201 

thou  labor  and  do  all  thy  work;  but  the  seventh 
day  is  a  sabbath  unto  the  Lord  thy  God:  in  it 
thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son, 
nor  thy  daughter,  nor  thy  manservant,  nor  thy 
maidservant,  nor  thine  ox,  nor  thine  ass,  nor  any 
of  thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger  that  is  within  thy 
gates;  that  thy  manservant  and  thy  maidservant 
may  rest  as  well  as  thou.  And  thou  shalt  remem- 
ber that  thou  wast  a  servant  in  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  the  Lord  thy  God  brought  thee  out  thence 
by  a  mighty  hand  and  by  a  stretched  out  arm; 
therefore  the  Lord  thy  God  commanded  thee  to 
keep  the  sabbath  day."^  The  ''E"  decalogue  reads: 
''Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  .holy. 
Six  days  shalt  thou  labor  and  do  all  thy  work : 
but  the  seventh  day  is  a  sabbath  unto  the 
Lord  thy  God:  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work, 
thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy  manser- 
vant, nor  thy  maidservant,  nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy 
stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates:  for  in  six  days 
the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea  and  all 
that  in  them  is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day: 
Wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the  sabbath  day  and 
hallowed  it."  The  difference  between  the  above 
commands  is  in  the  reason  given  for  the  Sabbatic 
observance :  the  one  being  that  God  delivered  them 
1  Deut.  V.  14,  15. 


202     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

out  of  Egyptian  bondage;  the  other,  that  he 
rested  on  the  Seventh  Day.  But  the  wording  of 
the  ''J"  decalogue  is  altogether  different.  The 
commandments  given  in  their  abbreviated  form 
are: 

1.  Thou  shalt  worship  no  other  god. 

2.  Thou  shalt  make  thee  no  molten  gods. 

3.  The  feast  of  unleavened  bread  thou  shalt 
keep. 

4.  All  the  firstborn  of  thy  sons  thou  shalt 
redeem. 

5.  The  seventh  day  thou  shalt  rest ;  in  plough- 
ing time  and  harvest  time  thou  shalt  rest. 

6.  Thou  shalt  observe  the  feast  of  weeks. 

7.  Thrice  in  the  year  shall  all  your  men  chil- 
dren appear  before  the  Lord  God. 

8.  Thou  shalt  not  offer  the  blood  of  my  sacrifice 
with  leaven. 

9.  The  first  of  the  first  fruits  of  the  land  thou 
shalt  bring  into  the  house  of  the  Lord  thy  God. 

10.  Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  its  mother's 
milk.  Then  follow  these  words  :  "  And  the  Lord 
said  unto  Moses,  write  thou  these  words  :  for  after 
the  tenor  of  these  words  I  have  made  a  covenant 
with  thee  and  with  Israel.  And  he  was  there  with 
the  Lord  forty  days  and  forty  nights;  he  did 
neither  eat  bread  nor  drink  water,  and  he  wrote 


Moral  Significance  of  the  Decalogues.    203 

upon  the  table  the  words  of  the  covenant  the  ten 
commandments."^  This  decalogue  was  written  by 
the  hand  of  Moses,  while  God  dictated  it,  and 
was  then  put  into  the  ark.  The  other  was 
written  by  the  finger  of  God  on  tables  of  stone, 
which  were  broken  by  Moses.  Here,  then,  are 
two  decalogues ;  no  two  commandments  are  ex- 
actly alike  in  the  wording.  This  decalogue  must 
be  regarded  as  non-moral  or  ceremonial ;  however, 
the  emphasis  is  usually  placed  upon  the  ten  words 
in  Exodus,  the  twentieth  chapter.  Then  special 
virtue  or  superior  rank  attributed  to  the  "  Ten 
commandments  engraven  on  stones  "  must  be  sur- 
rendered and  be  taken  simply  upon  their  merits, 
as  any  other  group  of  commandments  in  the  Old 
Testament. 

We  will  now  examine  the  last-mentioned  deca- 
logue, by  the  above  definition  of  the  word 
"  moral "  and  ascertain  the  moral  significance  of 
these  commandments. 

In  the  first  commandment  of  this  decalogue  the 
people  are  instructed  to  have  no  other  gods.  As 
shown  above,  morality  only  refers  to  the  relations 
that  exist  between  human  beings.  The  relation 
between  God  and  man  is,  strictly  speaking,  not 
moral,  but   religious,   though  the  results  may  be 

1  Ex.  xxxiv.  28. 


204      Scientific  Basis  of  Sabhath  and  Sunday, 

moral  or  immoral.     The  history  of  religions  has 
many  pages  darkened  with  immorality,  vice,  and 
crime,  conscientiously  performed  in  honor  of  cer- 
tam  divinities.     The  Phoenicians,  in  their  worship 
of  Astarte,  is  the  best  example  of  how  degrading 
a  religion  may  become  in  its  moral  bearings.     The 
second   commandment  is  similar   to   this.     Wor- 
shipping graven  images  does  not  come  under  the 
head  of   morals.     One   can  be   moral  and  either 
worship  or  profane  the  name  of  the  gods  that  these 
images   represent.     It  is  difficult   to   imagine  in 
what  manner  the    third   commandment  —  not  to 
mention  the  name  of  God,  except  the  priest  once 
a  year  when  he  entered  the  holy  of   holies  —  is 
moral.     They  did  not   even  write   the   name  of 
Yahweh,  but  substituted  the  word  Jehovah,  which 
is  a  combination  of  the  consonants  of  Yahweh  and 
the  vowels   of  Adonai.     Upon   this  point  Sayce 
says,  *'But  there  was  one  word  which  the  Mas- 
oretes  of  Tiberias  either  could  not  or  would  not 
pronounce.     This   was   the    national   name  of  the 
God  of  Israel.     Though  used  so  freely  in  the  Old 
Testament,  it  had  come  to  be  regarded  with  super- 
stitious reverence,  before  the  time  when  the  Greek 
translation  of  the   Septuagint  was  made,    and   in 
this    translation,    accordingly,    the    word  Kyrios, 
*Lord,'  is  substituted  for  it  wherever  it  occurs." 


Moral  Significance  of  the  Decalogues.    205 

Also  the  New  Testament  writers  ''read  in  place  of 
it  adonai,  'Lord.'"^  Another  witness  adds,  ''First 
they  removed  the  name  of  God  from  the  common 
use,  avoiding  entirely  the  name  of  Jehovah,  and 
also,  as  far  as  possible,  the  general  name  of  God,  in 
common  speech  as  well  as  in  oaths,  and  employing 
the  circumlocution  of  such  a  term  as  Heaven.  "^  J. 
Paterson  Smyth,  touching  upon  the  extreme  rev- 
erence for,  and  the  reluctance  to  pronounce  the 
name  Yahweh  (Jehovah)  in  early  Jewish  history, 
states  "that  it  was  publicly  declared  that  'Whoso- 
ever uttered  the  sacred  name  shall  have  no  part  in 
the  world  to  come.  '^  When  they  met  the  word  they 
read  instead  of  it,  'the  Name,'  or  'God,'  or  'Ado- 
nai. ' ' '  Professor  Brinton  has  clearly  shown  that  the 
"name"  had  a  separate  existence  or  attribute  of 
the  person  named,  and  such  superstitious  reverence 
did  they  have  for  it  that  its  use  was  studiously 
avoided.  After  giving  cases  of  tribes  even  among 
American  Indians  that  would  not  pronounce  the 
name  of  their  god,  he  sums  up  with  these  words: 
"  The  ineffable  name  is  the  common  property  of 
savage    and    cultured   faiths."*      The   later   una- 

1  Fresh  Light  from  Ancient  Monuments,  p.  62. 

2  Teaching  of  Jesus,  by  Wendt,  Vol.  I.  50. 

*  Old  Documents  and  New  Bible,  p.  58. 

*  Religion  of  Primitive  Peoples,  p.  98. 


206     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabhath  and  Sunday, 

bridged  dictionaries  support  this  theory.  In  the 
Standard  Dictionary,  under  the  word  Jehovah,  the 
following  words  occur :  "  It  is  the  ineffable  name 
not  pronounced  by  the  Jews,  who  substitute  for  it 
Adonai,  or  when  Adonai  occurs  in  connection  with 
it,  Elohim."  Other  modern  dictionaries,  such  as 
the  Century  Dictionary,  have  substantially  the 
same  thought.  Schwab,  an  eminent  Jewish  au- 
thority, referring  to  this  commandment,  stated 
that  it  alludes  to  the  use  of  his  name  in  oaths  in 
the  courts  of  law.^  But  oaths  seem  to  be  entirely 
forbidden  in  the  books  of  Hosea  and  Zephaniah. 
A  beautiful  analogy  to  the  Jews  in  this  respect  is 
found  among  the  Marutse.  The  god  of  this  tribe 
and  kindred  tribes  along  the  Zambesi  river,  is 
called  Njambe ;  but  to  avoid  revealing  this,  they 
employ  the  term,  Molemo.^  Much  space  has 
been  given  to  this  third  commandment  in  this 
connection,  in  order  that  no  mistake  might  be 
made  regarding  its  meaning  or  purpose.  The  com- 
mandment, then,  that  the  name  of  God  should  not 
be  mentioned  except  by  the  High  Priest  once  a  year, 
is  not  moral,  but  rather  religious. 

Then  follows  the  fourth  or  Sabbatic  Command- 
ment.    Appljdng  the  above  definition  of  the  word 

1  The  Sabbath  in  History. 

2  Religion  of  Primitive  Peoples,  p.  97. 


Moral  Significance  of  the  Decalogues.    207 

*' moral"  to  this,  we  must  exclude  it  from  the  list 
of  moral  duties.     It  does  not  arise  from  the  inner 
nature  of  man.     The  physical  nature  of  man  de- 
mands the  night  for  rest,  but  nature  has  not  pro- 
vided one  day  in  seven.     Not  only  does  the  nature 
of  man  call  for  nightly  rest  but  almost  all  the  ani- 
mal creation  take  that  same  time  for  rest.     Among 
most  all  peoples  there  are  laws  against  murder, 
etc.,  but  the  Sabbatic  law  is  not  the  law  of   all 
tribes.     If  the  Sabbath  law  were  moral  it  would 
spring  up  as  spontaneously  as  the  law  of  murder. 
If  this  law  were  moral  how  could  Christ  say  it  was 
made  for  man    and    not    man   for   the    Sabbath, 
or   that    he    was    Lord    of    the    Sabbath?      The 
term  "  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  "  means  to  have  the 
power  to  change  it  at  His  will.    It  is  only  the  cere- 
monial that  can  be  changed  at  will.     If  the  Sab- 
bath was    an  eternal   moral  law  it  could  not  be 
changed.     Think  of  Christ  changing  at  will  the 
law  of  purity,  love  or  righteousness.     Why  not  ? 
Because   they  are  moral   principles  and  abiding. 
Christ  said  the  "  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,"  but 
moral  law  is  not  made  for  man.     Man  must  square 
himself  to  the  moral  law.     It  is  a  truth  that  man 
is  made  to  fit  into  the  moral  law  but  not  made  to 
fit  into  the  Sabbath  law.     It  is  only  the  temporal 
and  ceremonial   "  that  is   made  for  man."     Fur- 


208     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

thermore,  as  we  have  shown,  the  way  the  Sabbath 
primarily  arose  was  through  the  agency  of  moon 
worship.  Had  there  been  no  moon  changes,  no 
seventh  day  division  would  have  been  thought  of 
by  the  various  peoples  possessing  it.  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  the  Sabbath  is  a  form  of  worship  and 
supposes  relations  between  God  and  man,  and  not 
between  man  and  man.  The  Sabbath  law  is  cer- 
tainly religious  and  ceremonial,  for  it  was  a  "  sign 
between  me  [Jehovah]  and  the  children  of  Israel." 
Now  a  sign  or  symbol  has  no  virtue  in  itself,  any 
more  than  the  bread  and  wine  at  the  Sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  but  simply  points  to  something 
else.  And  if  a  sign  has  no  virtue  in  itself  then  it 
cannot  be  a  moral  principle.  A  moral  command 
only  has  virtue  in  itself.  The  Sabbath  was  a 
memorial  of  the  deliverance  of  the  Israelites  out 
of  Egypt.  The  Sabbath  is  also  a  commemoration 
of  God's  creation  rest.  A  memorial  day  has  no 
virtue  in  itself,  but  only  points  backward  to  some 
act,  event,  or  person.  How  could  the  Sabbath  be 
moral  when  its  existence  or  non-existence  depends 
upon  some  event  in  the  past?  According  to  the 
Deuteronomic  author,  if  there  had  been  no  exodus 
of  the  Israelites  there  would  have  been  no  sacred 
Sabbath,  for  it  commemorated  that  event.  Ac- 
cording to    the    priestly  writer,  there  would  not 


Moral  Significance  of  the  Decalogues.        209 

have  been  a  seventh-day  rest  if  God  had  finished 
the  creation  in  four  days,  but  rather  a  fifth-day's 
rest.  If  God  had  not  rested,  according  to  this 
writer,  there  would  have  been  no  Sabbath.  The 
Seventh  Day  Sabbath  was  a  sign  that  distinguished 
the  Jewish  people  in  their  peculiar  relations  to 
Jehovah.  This  sign  was  the  simple  act  of  rest- 
ing. Now  a  formal  act  prescribed  by  authority  is 
a  ceremonial  law.  The  Sabbath,  being  then  a 
formal  rest  prescribed  by  law,  is  therefore  a  cere- 
monial ordinance  and  not  a  moral  principle. 

The  next  commandment  that  Christ  left  out 
was  the  tenth.  It  says,  "  Thou  shalt  not  covet." 
To  covet  is  to  have  a  strong  desire  for  anything. 
This  is  always  the  needed  stimulus  in  order  to 
secure  an  object.  How  could  one  get  gold,  silver, 
houses,  lands,  or  any  kind  of  an  education  without 
a  strong  desire  for  it,  backed  up  by  efforts?  As 
already  suggested,  it  depends  on  what  we  covet, 
and  that  determines  its  rightness  or  wrongness. 
Paul  says,  ''Covet  earnestly  the  best  gifts." 
Again  he  says,  "Covet  to  prophesy."  The  re- 
maining five  commandments  answer  the  definition 
of  moraUty.  Here  then  are  five  commands  that 
are  moral  and  five  that  are  not.  So  we  have  a 
pentalogue  on  the  authority  of  Christ  himself. 
One  who  holds  that  the  Sabbath  is  moral  must 


210     Scientific  Basis  of  SabhatJi  and  Sunday. 

also  hold  the  seventh  year  and  the  year  of  Jubilee 
are  moral ;  for  they  are  divine  laws  of  rest  in  the 
Old  Testament  purporting  to  have  come  from 
God.  The  Sabbatic  year  and  the  year  of  Jubilee 
have  as  much  of  the  voice  and  authority  of  God 
back  of  them  as  the  Seventh  Day  commandment 
has.  Why  then  should  we  try  to  perpetuate  the 
Seventh  Day  command,  and  ignore  other  Sabbatic 
commands  ? 

The  Hebrew  Scriptures  nowhere  make  any  dis- 
tinction between  moral  and  ceremonial  laws. 
What  made  them  right  was  because  God  com- 
manded them ;  even  if  it  finally  became  harmful. 
In  the  Jewish  judiciary  there  were  no  crimes 
but  all  were  sins.  These  laws  covered  every 
department  of  Jewish  life  —  moral,  civil,  cere- 
monial, social,  individual;  even  the  building  of 
houses,  clothing,  and  the  finding  of  birds'  nests 
had  specific  laws.  The  two  greatest  laws,  love 
to  God  and  love  to  man,  are  not  mentioned  any- 
where in  the  decalogue.  Of  course  Christians 
observe  the  ordinary  moral  precepts  scattered 
throughout  the  Old  Testament  writings;  but 
they  do  not  observe  them  because  they  find  them 
in  the  Old  Testament,  rather  because  they  are 
right  and  harmonize  with  the  spirit  and  teacliings 
of  Christ. 


Moral  Significance  of  the  Decalogues.        211 

It  is  stubbornly  contested  by  some  that  the 
moral  laws  in  the  Old  Testament  are  eternal,  un- 
changeable and  binding  upon  all  Christians.  This 
is  not  in  line  with  the  facts  of  the  case.  Are 
moral  laws  regarding  slavery  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment binding  ?  For  instance,  "  If  thou  buy  a 
Hebrew  servant,  six  years  he  shall  serve."  This 
is  certainly  a  moral  law  but  it  is  not  binding. 
"  An  eye  for  an  eye,  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  a  hand 
for  a  hand,  a  foot  for  a  foot,  burning  for  burning, 
wound  for  wound,  and  stripe  for  stripe,"  are  all 
laws  of  revenge,  and  consequently  moral  laws. 
Are  they  binding  on  Christians?  Polygamy  is 
sustained  by  the  Old  Testament  law  and  is  within 
the  realm  of  morality.  Is  it  binding  on  our  age 
and  times  ?  Divorces  are  granted  by  the  Jewish 
law  because  "  She  findeth  no  favor  in  his  eyes." 
Is  this  divorce  law  binding  upon  Christendom? 
In  Deuteronomy  one  must  marry  his  brother's 
widow.  This  is  a  moral  law ;  do  we  claim  it  is 
binding  on  us?  It  is  evident  that  some  moral  laws 
in  the  Old  Testament  are  diametrically  opposed  to 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  while  othersi  of  them  are 
entirely  in  accord  with  his  teachings.  Not  be- 
cause it  is  in  the  Jewish  law  do  we  obey  them, 
but  because  it  is  the  will  of  the  Master  of  the  new 
dispensation. 


212     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

So  then  we  emphasize  the  statement  that  all  in 
the  Old  Testament  which  harmonizes  with  the  spirit 
and  teachings  of  the  Master,  is  binding  upon  Chris- 
tians. The  spirit  of  Christ  leads  us  to  do  that  which 
is  right,  to  obey  all  the  laws  of  right  doing.  The 
moral  laws  contained  in  the  decalogue  are  only  a 
small  portion  of  the  many  moral  laws  in  the 
Hebrew  scriptures.  In  fact  the  greatest  laws  are 
not  included  within  the  limits  of  the  decalogue. 

Again  it  is  claimed  that  the  Sabbath  Command- 
ment is  moral  because  it  has  a  moralizing  influ- 
ence. The  same  could  be  said  about  the  year 
of  Jubilee.  In  that  year,  slaves  were  made  free, 
lands  given  back  to  original  holders,  debts  re- 
mitted, etc.  This  could  be  no  other  than  a  bless- 
ing to  the  Israelites.  In  fact  all  religious  rites 
have  a  moralizing  influence.  The  Lord's  Supper 
has  a  moralizing  influence,  though  it  is  a  ceremo- 
nial custom. 

In  closing  this  chapter  it  is  no  doubt  expected 
that  a  few  words  would  be  presented  regarding 
the  different  decalogues,  with  the  explanation  of 
such  differences.  A  number  of  tribes  and  peoples 
have  been  found  with  a  decalogue,  of  great  an- 
tiquity even  before  the  Jevrish  race  had  a  national 
existence.  This  fact  is  accounted  for  from  the 
prominence   of   the   number  ten  among   most  all 


Moral  Signijieanee  of  the  Decalogues.         213 

low  tribes.  The  choice  of  the  number  ten  as  shown 
in  Chapter  II.  is  due  to  the  ten  fingers  and  also 
the  ten  toes.  As  ten  was  a  prominent  and  lucky 
number,  the  early  tribes  grouped  the  principal  of 
their  laws  into  this  number.  By  this  method 
they  could  be  easily  remembered,  simply  by  put- 
ting a  law  opposite  each  finger.  No  doubt  the 
Hebrews  followed  the  same  practice.  They  had  a 
number  of  laws  given  to  them  by  Moses,  among 
them  were  no  doubt  a  decalogue,  the  exact  origi- 
nal of  which  scholars  are  trying  to  find. 

The  two  decalogues  in  Exodus  referred  to 
above  are  no  doubt  two  versions  of  an  earlier 
decalogue,  at  least  that  is  the  best  explanation  at 
present.  One  version  is  by  a  Southern  or  "  J  " 
writer  who  is  the  author' of  Exodus  xxxiv,  and 
the  other  version  is  by  a  Northern  or  "  E  "  writer 
who  is  the  author  of  the  decalogue  in  Exodus 
XX,  The  earliest  law  of  all  tribes  was  ceremo- 
nial. This  comports  with  the  earliest  decalogue  of 
the  Hebrews  called  the  Jehovistic  decalogue.  This 
early  decalogue  consisted  entirely  of  ceremonial 
laws.  The  other  decalogue,  called  the  Elohistic 
decalogue,  is  a  grouping  of  laws  at  a  later  period  of 
the  national  existence  of  the  Jewish  people.  This 
last  mentioned  decalogue  has  at  least  five  moral 
laws,  which  are  considerably  in   advance  of  the 


214     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

other,  indicating  a  higher  type  of  life.  The  state- 
ment that  these  decalogues  were  taken  from  the 
Canaanites  fails  of  evidence  to  support  it.  Israel 
had  many  laws  before  they  entered  the  promised 
land,  and  though  they  took  many  laws  and  insti- 
tutions from  the  Canaanites,  yet  the  evidence  is 
lacking  that  they  were  adopted  in  a  body  from 
them.  Renan  claims  that  the  second  decalogue 
was  taken  from  the  Book  of  the  Dead  in  Egypt. 
It  is  true  that  there  is  a  great  similarity  between 
the  decalogue  and  the  negative  statements  by  the 
departed  spirit  in  the  hall  of  Osiris,  found  in  the 
Book  of  the  Dead,  but  this  is  far  from  proof  that 
there  was  direct  copying.  Such  an  eminent 
scholar  as  Professor  Toy  of  Harvard  University 
maintains  that  the  Israelites  borrowed  nothing 
from  the  Egyptians. 

The  sweeping  assumption  that  the  ten  com- 
mandments are  all  moral  and  eternally  binding 
completely  vanishes  when  measured  by  the  test 
that  determines  their  character. 


The  Seventh-Part-of-Time  Theory.        215 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    SEVENTH-PAKT-OF-TIME    THEORY   EXAMINED. 

Much  prominence  has  been  given  to  the  seventh- 
part-of-time  theory.  It  is  claimed  the  seventh  part 
of  time  is  demanded  by  the  physical  constitution 
and  consequently  a  moral  principle.  It  is  con- 
cluded, then,  that  the  Seventh  Day  is  a  moral  insti- 
tution and  binding'  upon  all.  This  sounds  logical, 
but  is  it  true?  Will  it  stand  the  scientific  test? 
If  so,  would  that  be  of  any  assistance  to  the  Sab- 
batarians or  others  in  their  Seventh  Day  views? 
If  one  rests  the  seventh  part  of  each  day, 
then  has  he  not  truly  rested  the  seventh  part  of 
time?  The  Israelites  observed  the  Sabbath 
Day  not  simply  as  a  necessity  of  the  physical 
body,  but  more  as  a  mark  of  their  allegiance  to 
their  God.  They  were  at  first  a  pastoral  peo- 
ple, and  the  caring  for  their  flocks  would  entail 
no  such  amount  of  physical  weariness  as  would 
require  any  special  rest.  There  is  nothing  in 
the  Sabbath  commandment   which   calls   only   for 


216     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabhath  and  Sunday, 

a  seventh  part  of  time.  The  truth  of  the  matter 
is,  the  Israelites  rested  much  more  than  a  sev- 
enth part  of  time.  Not  only  did  they  rest  from 
work  the  Seventh  Day,  a  seventh  year,  a  fiftieth 
year,  but  there  were  special  seasons  besides.  They 
had  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  lasting  seven 
days,  the  feast  of  weeks  lasting  one  day  and  the 
feast  of  tabernacles  lasting  a  week.  Later  in  their 
national  life  they  had  other  feasts,  such  as  the 
feast  of  Dedication  and  the  feast  of  Purim.  All 
put  together  would  amount  to  about  a  quarter  of 
the  time,  given  to  resting.  The  modern  working- 
man,  speaking  generally,  has  more  time  than  this 
at  his  disposal  for  rest.  What  are  the  greatest 
limits  of  rest  for  him?  He  has  every  Seventh 
Day,  seven  holidays  in  the  year,  Saturday  after- 
noons in  summer,  a  vacation  from  two  to  six 
weeks,  and  in  many  instances  the  boon  of  an 
eight-hour  day.  Reckoning  ten  hours  as  the  nor- 
mal working  day,  there  would  be  3650  working 
hours  in  the  year,  including  Sunday.  Now  deduct- 
ing Sundays,  a  vacation  of  three  weeks,  Saturday 
afternoons,  and  an  eight-hour  day,  we  have  1606 
hours  of  rest,  taken  from  a  possible  3650  hours 
of  work  in  the  year.  Thus  a  trifle  less  than  one 
half  the  normal  working  time  is  spent  in  rest. 
This  of  course  is  the  highest  limit  of  rest  to  the 


The  Seventh-Part-of-Time    Theory.  217 

working  man,  but  the  average  working  man  rests 
not  far  from  a  quarter  of  the  possible  working 
time.  Under  the  keen  competition  of  the  present, 
a  seventh  part  of  time  to  rest  without  other  time 
is  not  sufficient.  Workingmen  generally  need 
more  than  a  seventh  part  of  time  to  rest.  Hun- 
di-eds  of  business  and  professional  men  have 
wrecked  themselves  by  over-work,  though  they 
rested  on  the  Lord's  Day.  Christ  rested  on  the 
Sabbath,  but  it  was  not  enough ;  for  he  said  to 
his  apostles  :  "  Come  ye  yourselves  apart  into  a 
desert  place  and  rest  awhile."  ^  In  fact,  resting 
only  a  seventh  part  of  time  would  be  a  backward 
step  in  progress.  The  Lord's  Day  is  not  a  rest 
day  simply,  but  a  worship  day,  and  we  are  to  rest 
physically  as  much  as  the  body  needs.  We  should 
rest  enough  every  day  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
body.  According  to  this  seventh-part>of-time 
theory,  the  man  who  is  idle  for  months  at  a  time, 
does  not  need  the  seventh  day  rest.  But  that  is 
not  our  view.  The  idle  man  needs  a  worship  day, 
and  that  is  what  the  Lord's  Day  is  for.  Many 
workingmen,  taking  a  forty  mile  run  on  their 
bicycle  on  Sunday,  have  to  rest  on  Monday  to 
offset  the  fatigue  of  their  so  called  rest  on  Sunday. 
The  physical  rest  is  determined  by  how  hard  one 
1  Mark  vi.  31. 


218     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

works,  conditions  of  the  body,  physical  consti- 
tution, and  kinds  of  work.  Engineers  on  some 
fast  trains  are  compelled  to  rest  after  three  hours' 
work  each  day.  Scarcely  two  can  be  found  that 
need  the  same  amount  of  rest.  One  must  gauge 
his  rest  by  what  he  needs. 

A  further  argument  used  to  sustain  the  proposi- 
tion that :  "  The  seventh  part  of  time  is  moral," 
is  that  nature  requires  the  seventh  part  of  time  to 
rest.  The  bee,  and  all  insect  life,  do  not  observe 
this  injunction.  The  bird  ignores  this  law  and 
the  beasts  of  the  forest  pay  no  heed  to  this  pre- 
cept. Night  is  the  only  rest  period  speaking  gen- 
erally that  nature  gives  them.  All  animate 
creation  is  then  practically  at  rest.  Winter  is 
also  a  rest  period  to  some  forms  of  life.  If  man 
needs  only  one  day  in  seven  to  rest,  he  stands 
alone  in  the  animal  world  in  this  respect.  If  it  is 
rest  simply  that  he  needs,  why  not  rest  a  little 
more  each  day;  a  seventh  part  of  each  day,  for 
instance,  which  would  amount  to  the  same  thing  ? 
At  most,  wage  earners  work  only  ten  hours  out  of 
twenty-four.  Those  who  labor  eight  hours,  work 
only  a  third  of  the  day  and  have  two  thirds  of  the 
day  generally  speaking  for  rest  and  sleep.  To 
work  eight  hours,  sleep  eight  hours,  and  rest  eight 
hours,  with  public  holidays,  a  summer  vacation  and 


The  Seventh-Part-of-Time  Theory.         219 

a  Seventh  Day  for  spiritual  purposes,  answers  best 
the  needs  of  humanity  under  present  conditions. 
Man  needs  rest,  no  doubt,  but  to  say  every  seventh 
day  suffices,  is  not  proved.  It  is  a  moral  mid  spir- 
itual necessity.  A  policeman,  a  watchman,  and 
those  whose  work  calls  for  little  or  no  expenditure 
of  energy,  do  not  need  one  day  in  seven  for  physi- 
cal rest,  but  they  do  need  it  for  the  benefit  of  their 
spiritual  nature.  Most  religious  workers  rest  less 
on  that  day  than  on  any  other,  however  they  have 
met  its  purposes  in  divine  worship. 

It  is  true  the  septenary  division  of  time  crops  out 
in  certain  departments  of  nature.  The  musical 
scale  consists  of  seven  different  tones,  in  certain 
fevers  the  seven-day  periods  are  noticeable,  some 
diseases  and  conditions  of  the  human  system  cor- 
respond to  multiples  of  seven  days;  the  seven-year 
periods  of  the  body  are  generally  recognized.  There 
is  evidently  a  rhythm  in  nature  tuned  in  many 
cases  to  the  number  seven.  But  this  is  no  valid 
reason  for  resting  from  servile  labors  every  seventh 
day.  Upon  experiment  it  has  been  found  that 
more  is  accomplished  in  six  days '  work  followed  by 
a  rest  day  than  by  working  seven  days  continu- 
ously. The  same  advantage  might  be  shown  by 
resting  one  day  in  eight  or  even  in  six  days,  com- 
pared with  unceasing  labor. 

We  believe  a  recurring  rest  day  is  essential  to  the 


220    Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

well-being  of  man  in  modem  times.  But  the 
Seventh  day  was  first  chosen  from  its  relation  to 
the  phases  of  the  moon,  and  nature's  rhythm  only 
supports  and  enforces  it. 

The  Lord's  Day  was  not  instituted  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church  for  bodily  rest,  for  not  all  members  of 
the  early  Church  refrained  from  work  on  that  day. 
Its  authority  is  not  based  on  the  seventh-part-of- 
time  theory.  Christians  gradually  came  to  rest  on  the 
Lord's  Day  so  that  they  would  have  more  time  for 
worship.  Were  it  not  for  this  element  of  wor- 
ship and  the  cultivation  of  the  better  part  of  our 
nature,  a  day  of  idleness  merely  might  be  pro- 
ductive of  more  evil  than  good. 

Putting  our  position  briefly  we  name  the  fol- 
lowing points:  (1)  We  must  rest  every  day  as 
much  as  the  body  needs.  (2)  A  seventh  rest-day 
may  or  may  not  be  sufficient  for  the  demp.nds  of 
the  body  after  a  period  of  overwork.  (3)  No 
general  rule  can  be  given  as  to  the  amount  of  rest 
each  should  take.  That  is  determined  by  the 
nature  of  the  man,  his  physical  condition,  the  kind 
of  work  he  is  engaged  in,  the  condition  under 
which  the  work  is  performed.  (4)  The  Lord's 
Day  is  to  be  used  specially  for  worship,  no  matter 
whether  we  havp  worked  or  rested  on  the  days 
preceding. 


Nature  of  the  Lord 's  Bay.  221 


CHAPTER   IX. 

NATUEE   OF   THE   LORD's   DAY. 

The  day  on  which  our  Lord  was  crucified  was 
the  black  Friday  of  the  world's  history.  This 
great  prophet,  who  could  control  the  winds  and 
the  waves,  was  the  promised  Messiah,  the  leader 
of  the  coming  revolution.  His  disciples  expected 
that  he  would  immediately  establish  his  kingdom 
here  below,  but  their  hopes  were  blasted  by  his 
arrest  and  crucifixion.  All  the  high  anticipations 
of  the  new  kingdom  were  swept  away;  and  the 
little  group  of  simple  and  admiring  followers,  were 
filled  with  fear  and  hid  from  public  view.  The 
movement,  which  had  such  a  promising  outlook, 
seemed  now  to  be  crushed  for  all  time  to  come. 
Nothing  seemed  to  them  more  dark  and  discoura- 
ging. Christ  had  intimated  to  them  of  his  resurrec- 
tion but  it  was  unintelligible  to  them.  At  no 
period  of  their  life  had  the  clouds  of  gloom  and 
despair  so  completely  enveloped  them  as  at  this 
trying  time.     Not  the  least  ray  of  hope  shone  upon 


222     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

their  desolate  hearts.  But  this  was  all  changed 
on  the  resurrection  morn.  The  startling  news 
that,  "  he  is  risen  "  created  a  hope  and  joy  that  no 
language  could  adequately  describe.  He  who  was 
dead  was  still  alive  and  had  triumphed  over  sin 
and  death.  Man  was  now  shown  to  be  immortal. 
The  future  life,  heaven,  and  eternal  companionship 
with  Jesus  were  now  established  without  the  least 
shadow  of  a  doubt.  A  glorious  beyond  was  fully 
assured  in  the  hearts  of  his  faithful  followers. 
The  hopes  for  the  success  of  the  new  kingdom  met 
with  an  unprecedented  uplift,  and  the  outlook  was 
never  brighter.  Their  delight  knew  no  bounds. 
The  joy-day  of  earth's  history  had  dawned.  The 
independence  day  of  Christianity  had  come,  and  a 
new  dispensation  been  born.  It  would  be  impos- 
sible to  forget  this  joy-day.  It  was  impressed  too 
deeply  upon  their  minds  to  be  forgotten.  It  meant 
too  much  to  them,  it  took  too  great  a  hold  upon 
them,  to  be  treated  with  an  ordinary  degree  of  in- 
terest. Every  first  day  of  the  week  reminded  the 
disciples  of  their  heavenly  experience.  Their  hearts 
bounded  with  delight  at  the  sacred  memories  that 
clustered  round  the  Christ  Day.  They  met  every 
first  day  of  the  week  to  continue  the  joyful  memo- 
ries of  the  day  and  commune  with  their  Master. 
The  day  centered  in  Christ.     It  was  simply  a  day  to 


Nature  of  the  Lord^s  Day,  223 

commemorate  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  There 
was  nothing  in  it  of  the  nature  of  a  rest  day  or  a 
Sabbath.  It  could  not  be  called  at  first  anything 
more  than  a  memorial  day  of  the  crowning  event 
of  Christianity.  Jews  and  Gentiles  met  together 
that  day  as  best  they  could,  not  by  compulsion  or 
of  commandment,  but  from  the  natural  impulse  of 
their  hearts.  Just  as  one  celebrates  his  jojrful 
wedding  day,  so  did  these  unpretentious  Jews 
celebrate  the  event  that  brought  so  much  joy  to 
them.  The  main  feature  of  this  meeting  was  the 
breaking  of  bread  in  memory  of  their  Master.  It 
soon  developed  into  a  distinctly  worship  day,  with- 
out the  idea  of  rest  from  ordinary  labor.  Probably 
after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  it  took  on  the 
character  of  a  decidedly  worship  day.  Before  the 
middle  of  the  next  century,  we  have  the  authentic 
record  of  the  order  of  service  given  by  Justin 
Martyr.  Before  the  close  of  the  apostolic  age, 
judging  from  the  language  of  Trajan,  there  was  a 
morning  and  evening  service ;  but  as  the  evening 
service  roused  the  suspicion  of  the  Roman  govern- 
ment, it  was  omitted.  It  was  a  day  eminently 
calculated  for  worship.  Its  joyful  memories  could 
not  but  produce  feelings  of  praise  and  worship. 
The  day  was  so  joyful  that  kneeling  was  entirely 
prohibited.       It    was    thought    that    this  attitude 


224    Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

would  indicate  the  position  of  a  beggar,  so 
standing  was  the  only  position  thought  proper  for 
prayer,  on  the  Lord's  Day.  One  of  the  canons  of 
the  Council  of  Nice  decreed,  "That  praying  by 
kneeling  should  be  interdicted  on  the  day  of  the 
resurrection  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  because  it 
indicates  fear  and  sorrow  on  a  day  in  which  the 
whole  Church  exults  and  rejoices." 

Worship  was  the  prime  thought  and  prime  pur- 
pose of  the  day.  The  rest  element  was  a  subordi- 
nate idea  and  had  no  part  in  instituting  the  day. 
Rest  was  not  to  be  felt  a  necessity  in  the  first  stages 
of  the  Christian  Church.  The  rest  idea  came  in 
gradually,  and  it  was  five  centuries  before  there 
was  a  law  forbidding  all  kinds  of  ordinary  work. 
They  rested  at  first  not  because  the  Church 
thought  it  wrong  to  work  on  the  Lord's  Day, 
but  to  give  more'  time  and  opportunity  to  wor- 
ship the  true  and  living  God.  Tertullian  gives 
the  first  hint  of  resting  on  the  Lord's  Day.  Re- 
ferring to  the  obligation  to  rest  on  Sunday,  he 
says,  in  substance,  that  it  was  not  due  to  any  Old 
Testament  command  or  to  apostolic  tradition  but 
to  the  need  of  having  the  outward  conditions  fa- 
vorable to  that  state  of  mind  which  is  appropriate 
to  the  day.  Sunday  by  virtue  of  the  event  it 
memorialized  ought  to  be  to  Christians  a  day  of 


Nature  of  the  Lord's  Day.  225 

joy,  peace,  and  tranquillity  of  soul,  and  in  order  to 
avoid  needless  distraction,  worldly  business  ought 
to  be  suspended.  A  passage  in  the  Apostolic 
Constitutions  offers  the  same  reason  for  mailing 
Sunday  a  day  of  rest.  The  Council  of  Ephesus 
recommended  that  Christians  should  honor  the 
Lord's  Day,  and  when  possible  refrain  from  the 
work  of  the  same  instead  of  resting  on  the  Jewish 
Sabbath.  This  commandment  is  not  to  honor  the 
Seventh  Day  but  rather  the  Lord's  Day.  It 
seems  in  some  localities  the  Jews  who  were  con- 
verted to  Christianity  could  not  at  once  break 
away  from  their  old  customs  and  rites  and  sc  con- 
tinued to  keep  sacred  the  Jewish  Sabbath  Day. 
Finally  the  Council  of  Orleans  a.d.  538  pro- 
hibited all  kinds  of  labor.  There  was  no  legal 
prohibition  of  all  kinds  of  labor  on  the  Lord's  Day 
during  the  first  three  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era.  Resting  on  the  Lord's  Day  was  an  evolu- 
tion. The  Lord's  Day  itself  is  an  evolution.  At 
first  it  started  with  a  little  meeting  of  Christ  and 
his  disciples  without  the  idea  of  a  rest  day  or  a 
holy  day.  Communion  and  worship  was  their 
only  thought.  The  Lord's  Day  is  now  and  always 
has  been  a  meeting  day  with  Christ. 

Now  a  worship  day  is  not  instituted  for  the 
sake  of   itself,  but  for  some  object  reaching  out 


226     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabhath  and  Sunday. 

beyond  the  mere  form.  That  purpose  consists  in 
moulding  us  in  the  likeness  of  the  Master.  When 
the  Lord's  Day  was  first  instituted  Christ  was  the 
central  and  controlling  thought.  They  met  him 
on  the  day  he  rose  from  the  dead,  their  discourses 
were  upon  his  words  and  his  deeds,  they  commem- 
orated him  by  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
Thus  all  the  exercises  of  the  day  pointed  to  him 
in  some  way,  so  it  was  truly  a  Christ  Day.  But 
what  was  the  practical  effect  of  this  day  ?  It  was 
conformity  to  the  mind  of  the  Master.  True  wor- 
ship will  spiritualize  our  faculties,  stimulate  the 
higher  powers  with  nobler  desires,  hoher  impulses, 
purer  motives,  and  assimilate  our  nature  with  that 
of  our  Creator.  In  other  words,  to  bring  our  ac- 
tions and  character  in  harmony  with  the  Spirit  of 
God.  "  To  he  in  the  spirit  on  the  Lord 's  Bay  " 
constitutes  the  true  observance  of  the  day.  Works 
of  mercy  and  necessity  may  be  permitted,  if  they 
minister  in  a  larger  degree  to  the  well  being 
of  all  concerned.  The  works  referred  to  are  wor- 
ship in  its  truest  sense,  and  if  this  kind  of  worship 
fulfils  the  spirit  of  the  Master  more  than  ordinary 
Sunday  worship  we  are  justified  in  doing  it  on 
special  occasions. 

The  Lord's  Day  was  in  no  case  considered  a 
fast  day.     None  were  allowed  to  fast  on  the  resur- 


Nature  of  the  Lord^s  Day,  22T 

rection  day  of  Christ.  A  sect  called  the  Monta- 
nists,  who  lived  in  the  second  century,  were 
remarkable  for  their  strict  laws  on  fasting,  but 
they  excepted  the  first  day  of  the  week  out  of  their 
austerities.  The  first  who  was  executed  for  heresy 
by  the  secular  power  was  Priscillianus,  who  was 
charged  with  fasting  on  the  Lord's  Day.  The 
Council  of  Nicaea  decreed  that  anybody  who  fasted 
on  the  Lord's  Day,  whether  by  niispersuasion  or 
superstition,  should  be  anathematized.  Fasting 
in  no  way  fits  into  the  joy-day  of  Christ. 

The  Lord's  Day  is  not  a  day  of  big  dinners  and 
grand  feasts.  These  are  certainly  objectionable, 
as  it  unfits  the  mind  for  the  adoration  of  the  Lord 
of  earth  and  skies.  All  things  are  to  be  put  aside 
that  would  interfere  with  the  best  conditions  for 
the  worship  of  the  Supreme  Being. 

The  Lord's  Day  is  not  a  holiday  in  the  sense  of 
a  public  rest  for  the  purpose  of  recreation,  amuse- 
ment, and  merrymaking.  Amusements  and  merry- 
making are  not  compatible  with  the  cultivation  of 
the  religious  spirit.  The  temptation  is  strong 
these  modern  days  in  the  direction  of  pleasure, 
and  efforts  must  be  put  forth  to  prevent  the 
Lord's  Day  from  being  used  for  that  purpose. 

Neither  is  the  Lord's  Day  a  holy  day  in  the 
sense  of   a  specified  day  belonging  absolutely  to 


228     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday/, 

God.  The  Sabbath  was  a  holy  day  but  the 
Lord's  Day  is  not.  Now  all  time  belongs  to  God 
and  the  true  Christian  consecrates  every  day  to 
the  service  of  the  Master.  It  may  be  sacred  in 
the  sense  of  a  special  day  devoted  to  the  worship 
of  God,  but  it  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  belonging 
specially  to  God  nor  an  idol  to  be  worshipped. 
Worship  should  be  continued  every  day,  but  in 
the  case  of  the  Lord's  Day  the  whole  day  is  given 
to  that  kind  of  employment.  The  civil  laws  for- 
bid work  on  Sunday  not  because  it  is  holy,  but 
because  it  interferes  with  the  conditions  of  true 
worship.  As  labor  day  is  a  day  devoted  to  the 
interest  of  labor ;  thanksgiving  to  the  offering  of 
thanks,  so  the  Lord's  Day  is  a  day  specially 
devoted  to  the  worship  of  God. 

The  Lord's  Day  is  not  in  a  true  sense  a  Sab- 
bath. The  word  Sabbath  is  a  Hebrew  term 
meaning  "  rest."  The  rest  idea  was  the  one  char- 
acteristic feature  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  The 
principle  of  rest  was  the  only  factor  entering  into 
the  ancient  Jewish  Sabbath.  If  we  call  the 
Lord's  Day  a  Sabbath  then  we  are  giving  it  a 
term  which  the  early  Church  did  not  and  would 
not  recognize.  If  the  term  Sabbath  is  applied  to 
Sunday,  a  new  meaning  must  be  put  into  the  word 
which   the    Jews    did    not   admit.     If    the  word 


Nature  of  the  Lord's  Day.  229 

Sabbath  must  be  given  to  Sunday  then  its  mean- 
ing must  be  changed  to  include  all  that  is  implied 
in  the  content  of  the  Lord's  Day. 

Worship  did  not  primarily  enter  into  the  Scrip- 
tural Sabbath.  Of  course  in  the  latter  days  of 
the  Jews  as  a  people,  worship  was  held  in  the 
synagogue  on  the  Sabbath,  but  this  was  a  second- 
ary thought,  the  primary  idea  being  absolute  rest. 
Loyalty  to  God  was  shown  by  rest  from  ordinary 
labor.  We  may  rest  or  work  on  the  Lord's  Day 
and  still  it  may  be  a  Lord's  Day  so  long  as  we 
worship  truly,  however  we  do  rest  from  our  ordi- 
nary labors  so  that  we  can  worship  more  satis- 
factorily and  completely.  The  Lord's  Day  is  not 
a  rest  day  essentially.  The  early  Church  did  not 
rest  entirely  from  all  their  work  for  a  long  period 
of  time.  Many  labor  more  on  Sunday  than  any 
other  day.  Clergymen,  Sunday  School  teachers, 
and  many  housekeepers,  toil  harder  on  the  so 
called  rest-day  than  on  week  days,  neither  do  they 
consider  it  inconsistent  with  the  proprieties  of  the 
day.  The  average  Christian  worker  who  attends 
Sunday  morning  service,  Sunday  School,  Young 
People's  meetings, and  an  evening  service  feels  the 
need  of  a  rest  at  the  close  of  the  day  as  much  as 
on  other  days  of  the  week.  Such  an  one  has  not 
kept  the  Old  Testament   Commandment,  "  Thou 


230     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabhath  and  Sunday. 

shalt  not  do  any  work."  Very  many  have  to 
rest  on  Monday  to  offset  the  work  on  Sunday. 
Monday  is  really  the  Sabbath  Day  (Rest  day)  of 
the  Clergyman  and  other  Christian  workers.  So 
Sunday  is  not  essentially  a  rest  day,  but  essen- 
tially a  worship  day,  and  the  rest  came  in  as  a 
secondary  idea.  There  is  but  little  similarity  be- 
tween the  Lord's  Day  and  the  Jewish  Sabbath  as 
first  given  to  the  chosen  people.  Ours  is  the 
seventh  day  of  the  Anglo  Saxon  week,  theirs  at 
first  the  seventh  day  of  the  Babylonian  lunar 
week;  ours  commences  at  midnight,  theirs  com- 
mences at  sundown ;  ours  is  a  spiritual  day,  theirs 
is  a  ceremonial  day  ;  ours  is  observed  by  being  in 
the  spirit,  theirs  by  resting ;  ours  a  day  of  liberty, 
theirs  a  legal  day  with  a  dead  line  drawn  around 
it ;  in  ours  work  may  be  done  that  is  necessary  for 
all,  in  theirs  no  manner  of  work  must  be  done ;  in 
ours  travelling  may  be  allowed,  in  theirs  none  are  to 
go  out  of  their  places  ;  ours  is  prophetic  of  heaven  ; 
theirs  prophetic  of  the  rest  in  Christ  or  the  Gospel 
rest;  ours  a  commemoration  of  the  resurrection, 
theirs  a  commemoration  of  the  great  deliverance 
out  of  Egypt.  The  purpose  of  ours  is  to  bring  us 
into  the  likeness  of  Christ,  or  perfect  manhood, 
theirs  loyalty  to  God,  rather  than  other  gods; 
ours    sprang   intuitively  from   the    heart,    theirs 


Nature  of  the  Lord's  Day.  231 

from  an  external  command ;  ours  to  terminate  with 
the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  theirs 
terminated  with  the  death  of  Christ. 

The  day  is  designed  for  man's  higher  nature 
and  in  this  particular  age  it  specially  fits  into  his 
many  needs.  Man  needs  the  time  to  avail  himself 
of  the  moral  and  spiritual  instruction,  generally, 
given  on  that  day.  He  needs  the  day  for  home 
culture,  without  which  the  home  is  only  a  house 
where  the  husband  stays  over  night.  The  disinte- 
gration of  the  American  home  is  due  to  our  indus- 
trial economy.  More  time  is  needed  in  the  home 
to  weld  together,  cultivate,  and  develop  the  ties 
of  home  life.  Man  needs  the  time  to  attend  divine 
service  for  the  purpose  of  getting  light,  strength, 
and  spiritual  help.  He  needs  the  time  to  meet 
with  his  friends  and  neighbors,  establish  friendly 
relations,  and  cultivate  social  feelings.  He  needs 
the  time  for  self  examination  and  personal  com- 
munion with  the  Lord  of  all.  He  needs  the  day 
to  remind  him  of  Christ's  great  work  and  the  man- 
ifold blessings,  derived  from  that  great  work,  which 
we  are  enjoying.  He  needs  the  time  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  higher  faculties  of  his  being. 
He  needs  the  time  to  relax  the  strain  of  six  days 
of  hard  labor.  He  needs  the  day  to  divide  time 
into   periods  which  break  the  monotony  of  con- 


232    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

tinuous  plodding.  Continuous  toiling  without  a 
rest-day  or  a  change  is  a  great  disheartening  bur- 
den on  the  mind  and  heart  and  soul  of  enlightened 
men. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Lord's  Day  is  not  all 
there  is  of  Christianity.  Sometimes  its  significance 
has  been  overdrawn  and  sometimes  justice  has  not 
been  shown.  We  should  keep  the  Lord's  Day  in 
its  proper  place  without  over-estimating  or  under- 
estimating it,  and  have  it  meet  the  end  primarily 
designed.  The  rest  idea  may  become  a  curse  or  a 
blessing.  If  we  devote  the  day  to  spiritual  pur- 
poses the  day  has  been  kept  as  originally  intended ; 
and  if  we  merely  rest  without  the  exercise  of  the 
spiritual  faculties  then  the  day  has  not  been  kept. 
If  the  day  is  used  for  the  purpose  intended,  it 
will  be  a  spiritual  and  moral  help  ;  but  if  there  is 
a  dearth  of  moral  life  back  of  it,  the  day  will 
simply  furnish  an  opportunity  for  harmful  indul- 
gences. A  day  of  idleness  to  a  class  of  people  low 
in  morals,  who  do  not  see  the  higher  significance 
of  the  day,  cannot  be  looked  upon  as  an  unmixed 
blessing,  but  our  minds  would  be  rather  turned  to 
the  old  truism,  "  Idle  hands  are  Satan's  willing 
instruments."  Possibly  if  there  were  no  ofher  in 
the  country  tnan  this  class,  working  the  whole  time 
would  be  less  productive  of  evil  than  a  seventh 


Nature  of  the  Lord's  Day.  233 

idle  day.  Israel  in  the  time  of  Christ  kept  the 
Sabbath  with  marvellous  strictness,  eclipsing  any- 
thing known  in  the  history  of  religion  with  the 
possible  exception  of  the  Babylonians;  neverthe- 
less they  crucified  Jesus  of  Nazareth  who  de- 
nounced them  in  these  scathing  words  :  "  Woe 
unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites !  for 
ye  are  like  unto  whited  sepulchres  which  outwardly 
appear  beautiful,  but  inwardly  are  full  of  dead 
men's  bones  and  of  all  uncleanness. "^  *'Ye  ser- 
pents, ye  offspring  of  vipers,  how  can  ye  escape 
the  judgment  of  hell?"^  Judging  from  this,  one 
can  be  a  good  Sabbath  keeper  and  morally  rotten 
at  the  same  time.  The  day  is  not  properly  kept, 
if  we  are  not  in  the  spirit.  The  Lord's  Day,  if 
used  as  intended,  will  minister  to  moral  and  spirit- 
ual edification.  It  is  simply  a  help  but  not  the 
essential  factor.  It  is  an  opportunity  to  cultivate 
the  religious  sentiments,  and  stimulate  the  spiritual 
nature.  The  Lord's  Day  is  a  day  for  planting, 
nurturing,  and  maturing  the  true  Christian  Reli- 
gion in  the  soul.  It  is  a  day  to  enter  the  holy  of 
holies  and  meet  with  God  alone.  It  is  a  day  to 
put  on  wings  and  rise  above  the  material  into  the 
glorious  sunlight  of  God's  presence.  It  is  a  day 
to  clear  away  the  soil  of  the  week  by  the  cleans- 
1  Matt,  xxiii.  27.  2  ibid.,  33. 


234     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

ing  power  of  the  water  of  life.  It  is  a  day  for  the 
meeting  of  heaven  and  earth  in  one's  own  soul. 
It  is  a  day  for  ascending  the  mountain-top  to  get 
a  glimpse  of  the  promised  land.  It  is  a  day 
prophetic  of  the  time  when  all  days  will  be  Lord's 
Days  and  the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth  be- 
come a  blessed  reality. 


The  Authority  of  the  Lord's  Day.        235 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE   AUTHORITY   OF   THE   LORD's   DAY. 

After  what  has  been  said  in  the  preceding 
chapters,  we  are  ready  for  the  anticipated  question: 
What  is  the  authority  for  the  Lord's  Day?  As 
the  fourth  commandment  has  been  annulled,  and 
no  commandment  appears  in  the  New  Testament 
for  Sunday  observance,  What  have  we  as  an 
authority  for  the  keeping  of  the  Christians'  Holy 
Day  ?  What  can  we  appeal  to  as  a  reason  for  our 
action,  and  ground  for  our  rehgious  belief  and 
practice,  regarding  Sunday?  Have  we  anything 
to  justify  us  in  keeping  sacred  the  Lord's  Day? 
In  reply  it  might  be  asked :  What  authority  have 
we  for  the  Salvation  Army,  Methodists,  Baptists, 
and  all  the  other  denominations?  Have  these 
religious  bodies  a  right  to  be?  If  so,  why? 
There  is  nothing  said  in  the  Scriptures  about  their 
necessity.  There  is  no  commandment  in  the  Bible 
authorizing  one  hundred  and  fifty  different  divis- 
ions in  the  fold  of  Christ.     What  authority  have 


236     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabhath  and  Sunday. 

we  for  Sunday  Schools  ?  What  authority  is  there 
for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  ?  There 
are  no  written  decrees  in  the  law  of  the  Lord  for 
such  special  organizations.  What  authority  can 
we  show  for  such  a  beneficent  institution  as  the 
Public  School  ?  The  Sacred  Scriptures  nowhere 
command  it.  What  authority  have  we  for  a  Re- 
public? There  is  no  text  for  it  in  the  Divine 
Record.  Republics  are  ignored,  and  only  kings 
and  kingdoms  appear  on  its  pages.  What  author- 
ity have  we  for  the  New  Testament  Canon? 
Neither  Moses  nor  the  prophets  and  not  even 
Christ  uttered  a  word  that  could  be  construed  as 
a  basis  upon  which  to  found  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament. 

We  are  too  much  inclined  to  rely  upon  some 
written  commandment,  some  literature,  as  authority 
for  our  religious  acts  and  institutions.  Does  God 
lead  and  guide  us,  and,  if  so,  why  ignore  Him  and 
trust  to  written  precepts  ?  The  fact  is  often  for- 
gotten that  we  are  no  longer  under  the  law,  but 
under  grace.  In  practical  life,  a  commandment 
for  every  detail  of  Christian  living  could  scarcely 
be  thought  of.  We  are  not  under  a  dispensation 
of  laws  and  commandments.  Ours  is  a  spiritual 
dispensation.  The  Spirit  "  will  guide  you  into  all 
truth,"  1  and  "  He   shall    teach  you  all  things."  ^ 

1  John  xvi.  13.  «  Ibid.,  26. 


The  Authority  of  the  Lord's  Bay.        237 

It  is  the  Spiritj  or  in  other  words,  the  will  of  G-od, 
that  is  authoritative.  When  the  will  of  God  is  dis- 
covered it  needs  no  greater  warrant,  no  matter 
whether  it  is  uttered  by  an  inspired  prophet  or  by 
the  humblest  peasant.  But  it  may  be  said  the 
expression,  '*the  will  of  God"  is  indefinite  and 
abstract.  How  may  we  know  what  is  the  will  of 
God?  Something  definite,  specific  is  wanted. 
By  what  standard  or  test  shall  we  determine  the 
will  of  God?  No  word  of  popular  use  and  com- 
prehension better  expresses  the  will  of  God  than 
the  word  truth.  Truth,  then,  is  the  great  criterion 
by  which  we  shall  test  all  things,  whether  or  not 
they  represent  the  will  of  God.  Anything  that 
harmonizes  or  fits  with  facts,  conditions,  or  reality, 
is  truth.  Truth  is  of  God,  and  therefore  authori- 
tative. 

It  is  pertinent  now  to  inquire.  What  is  the 
authority  of  the  Lord's  Day,  What  are  its  creden- 
tials ?  and  then  apply  the  test  to  ascertain  its  rela- 
tion to  the  will  of  God.  First,  the  Lord's  Day 
claims  to  have  the  sanction  of  the  apostles  of 
Christ.  Clear  evidences  from  the  New  Testament, 
Barnabas,  Pliny,  Ignatius,  the  Teaching  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles,  Justin  Martyr,  etc.,  convince  us 
beyond  a  doubt  that  the  disciples  met  the  first 
day  of  the  week  and  broke  bread  as  a  memorial  of 


238    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

the  Master,  and  engaged  in  more  or  less  of  other 
exercises  of  worship. 

The  second  credential  that  the  Lord's  Day  has 
to  offer  is  that  of  the  authority  of  Church  Councils. 
The  Council  of  Gangra,  Council  of  Elvira,  Council 
of  Nicaea,  Council  of  Antioch,  Council  of  Sardica, 
Council  of  Laodicea,  Council  of  Toledo,  Council 
of  Carthage,  and  the  Council  of  Orleans,  legis- 
lated on  different  aspects  of  the  Lord's  Day,  thus 
making  it  the  legal  expression  of  the  Church  for 
the  first  five  centuries.  The  first  five  centuries 
are  chosen  because  it  took  that  time  to  de- 
velop completely  the  Lord's  Day  in  its  various 
features. 

The  third  form  of  authority  is  that  of  experi- 
ence. By  looking  back  over  the  past,  the  Lord's 
Day  has  been  found  to  be  a  great  boon  to  humanity. 
It  has  brought  untold  blessings  to  all  peoples  since 
its  origin.  All  classes  in  various  ages  and  in 
various  countries,  under  different  conditions,  are 
agreed  on  the  beneficent  features  of  this  institution 
of  Christianity. 

In  the  fourth  place  the  Lord's  Day  has  the 
sanction  of  reason.  Reason  tells  us  that  the 
Lord's  Day  fits  into  the  needs  and  nature  of  soci- 
ety. Reason  claims  that  the  physical  system  of 
man  needs  rest  to  counterbalance   the  excessive 


The  Authority  of  the  Lord^s  Day.        239 

fatigue  and  strain  put  upon  it  during  six  days  of 
work.  Reason  also  demands  a  day  of  religious 
and  moral  exercise  to  maintain  even  the  morals  of 
the  community.  Reason  claims  that  the  beat  day 
to  call  out  feelings  of  gratitude  and  love  to  the 
Supreme  Being,  is  the  day  upon  which  Christ  ac- 
complished his  redemptive  work  and  gained  the 
victory  over  sin  and  death. 

We    have    then    (1)  Apostolic  Authority,   (2) 
Authority  of  Church  Councils,     (3)  Authority  of  J 
Experience,  (4)  and  the  Authority  of  Reason.     It  f 
remains  for  us  now  to    apply  the    test   of  truth/  ; 
and  ascertain  if  these  are  the  will  of  God. 

Concerning  Apostolic  Authority,  all  Christians 
are  agreed  that  the  teachings  and  practices  of  the 
apostles  were  in  harmony  with  the  truth.  For 
three  years  they  had  been  associated  with  him 
who  was  the  "  truth."  The  whole  of  Christendom 
recognize  the  sacred  import  of  the  New  Testament 
canon,  and  the  one  feature  that  decided  this 
choice,  was  that  these  books  were  written  or  dic- 
tated by  one  of  the  disciples  who  had  seen  and 
heard  Christ.  Apostolical  authority  then  has  the 
force  of  truth,  and  consequently  expresses  the  will 
of  God. 

In  touching  upon  the  Authority  of  Church 
Councils,  while  they  were  in  their  simplicity  and 


240     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

purity,  their  decisions  must  be  held  as  valid  and 
true.  It  was  well  into  the  fifth  century  before  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  were  finally  decided 
upon.  It  was  the  same  church  in  the  same  age 
who  decreed  upon  the  observance  of  the  Lord's 
Day.  The  Lord 's  Day,  then,  has  the  same  authority 
as  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament.  If  true,  then, 
it  is  the  will  of  God. 

Thirdly,  the  sanction  of  experience  is  a  revela- 
tion of  truth.  Whatever  is  the  greatest  good  to 
the  greatest  number  fits  into  the  needs  of  the  social 
condition  of  people,  and  as  such  is  truth,  for  truth 
is  that  which  harmonizes  with  fact,  condition  or 
reality.  This  is  probably  the  great  test  that  all  in- 
stitutions have  to  submit  to.  Is  the  organization 
called  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  harmony  with  the  will 
of  God  ?  Has  the  organization  adjusted  itself 
into  the  social  state  and  conferred  a  benefit  on 
society  ?  if  so  it  has  a  right  to  be,  and  is  in  ac- 
cord with  the  will  of  God.  What  authority  has 
the  Public  School?  Is  it  a  useful  institution? 
Does  it  meet  the  needs  of  the  country?  If  so  it 
is  truth  and  therefore  expressive  of  the  will  of 
God.  Is  our  Republic  divine  ?  Is  it  best  fitted 
to  our  condition  of  national  existence?  Is  the 
greatest  good  reaped  by  the  greatest  number  by 
this  peculiar  form  of  political  arrangement  ?     It 


The  Authority  of  the  Lord's  Day,        241 

certainly  is.     If  so,  then  it  is  truth  and  conse- 
quently divine. 

Lastly,  the  sanction  of  Reason  comports  with 
truth  and  the  mind  of  God.  Mathematic  truth 
comes  through  the  reason.  The  facts  of  astron- 
omy are  discovered  by  the  reason.  Geologic 
evidences  are  grasped  by  the  reason.  Self- 
evident  propositions  are  apprehended  by  the  rea- 
son. It  is  through  the  exercise  of  reason  that  the 
nature,  reality,  truth  or  falsity  of  a  thing  is  dis- 
covered. The  authority  of  reason  then  has  the 
force  of  truth. 

Now  we  have  shown  that  the  Lord's  Day  is 
supported  by  the  Authority  of  the  Apostles,  Author- 
ity of  Church  Councils,  Authority  of  Experience, 
and  the  Authority  of  Reason.  We  have  also 
shown  that  these  four  kinds  of  authority  express 
the  truth  and  clearly  embody  the  will  of  God, 
therefore  the  Lord's  Day  is  in  harmony  with  the 
will  of  God. 

The  Lord's  Day  was  instituted  by  the  apostles, 
fixed  upon  by  Church  Councils,  is  confirmed  by 
the  experiences  of  the  past  and  is  upheld  by  the 
dictates  of  reason.  The  decrees  uttered  by  a  di- 
vine lawgiver  could  not  be  more  imperative. 
Commandments  written  in  stone  could  not  make 
it    more    binding.     The    thunder   and    fire    upon 


242     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

Sinai   could   not  add   one  iota  to  its   divine  au- 
thority. 

Some  lament  the  absence  of  literal  command- 
ments for  the  people  regarding  the  Lord's  Day. 
The  mission  of  Christianity  is  not  to  promulgate 
laws,  but  to  put  principle,  life, and  power  into  the 
body  politic.  It  is  the  prerogative  of  the  state  to 
make  formal  laws,  enforcing  them  by  its  own 
strong  arm.  Those  who  must  have  written  laws 
to  appeal  to,  will  find  them  in  the  decrees  of 
Church  Councils.  In  thoroughly  enlightened 
Christian  nations  and  states,  the  public  statutes 
bearing  on  this  subject  may  be  taken  as  a  literal 
guide,  as  it  represents  the  consciousness  of  the 
Christian  people.  A  formal  law  on  our  statute 
books,  if  it  is  right,  is  as  much  the  will  of  God  as 
a  statute  in  a  religious  law  book,  because  both 
are  for  the  best  good  of  the  people  ;  and  when  it 
ceases  to  be  of  service  to  the  people,  it  is  no  longer 
binding.  However,  let  it  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  authority  for  Christians  is  not  in  formal  decrees 
but  in  the  will  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  may  be 
reasonably  asked:  What  use,  then,  have  we  for 
the  fourth  commandment?  No  use  as  a  Jewish 
commandment,  but  if  we  take  it  out  of  the  Jewish 
law  book,  modify  it  so  that  it  may  apply  to  the 
Lord's  Day,  then    let    it    stand    as    a    statement 


The  Authority  of  the  Lord's  Day.        243 

expressing  the  will  of  God  concerning  the  Lord's 
Day,  it  might  be  within  the  limits  of  consistency. 

The  Spirit  leads  and  guides  in  all  things  and 
gives  directions  as  occasion  requires.     Sometimes 
these  commands  will  be  contrary  to  the  written 
ordinances  of  the  Old  Testament  and  individual 
directions  in  the  New  Testament.     A  command- 
ment is  the  application  of  a  principle  to  a  certain 
age  and  people  under  certain  conditions  of   life. 
Now  when  the  condition  changes,  the  command- 
ment will  have  to  change,  even  though  it  may  be 
in  the  Bible.     Christ  teaches  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount "  Not  to  swear  at  all,  but  let  your  Yea  be  yea 
and  Nay  be  nay."     But  to-day  we  take  oaths  in  the 
courts  of  law  without  any  compunction  of  con- 
science.    In  this  case  the  Holy  Spirit  is  working 
through  the  reason  and  judgment,  and  teaches  us 
to  conform  to  the  courts,  seeing  that  it  is  for  the 
best  interests  of  society.      Christ's  command  was 
fitting  for  that  people  and  age,  but  the  conditions 
have  changed,  so  the  Spirit  leads  us  to  adopt  a 
different  method.      Slavery  was  not  denounced  in 
the  Bible  but  the  Spirit  now  leads  us  to  denounce 
it.     Indeed,  Paul  sent  a  runaway  slave   back  to 
his  master  Philemon ;  and  in  one  of  his  letters  he 
says :    "  Slaves  obey  your  masters,"  but  now  we 
repudiate  these  injunctions.      By  what  authority 


244     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

did  we  do  away  with  slavery  ?  By  the  authority 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  through  the  mind  of  man.  By 
the  same  authority  was  the  institution  of  the 
Lord's  Day  established  in  the  early  Church  and 
by  the  same  authority  has  the  day  been  continued 
till  the  present  time. 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord's  Day.     245 


CHAPTER   XL 

HISTORICAL  DEVELOPMENT   OF  THE   LORD's    DAY. 

The  basis  of  the  Lord's  Day  is  found  in  the 
historic  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ  from  the 
dead.     The     apostles    did    not   have    in   mind  a 
specially    sacred   day  when    they    primarily   met 
together  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  but  only 
a  delightful  commemoration  of  the  crowning  event 
in   the    life    of    their    Lord    and    Master.     They 
regarded  it  simply  as  a  weekly  celebration  of  the 
great  emancipation   day  of    the    religious  world. 
The  essential  thing   in   the    celebration  was  the 
breaking  of  bread  in  memory  of  Christ,  being  a 
compliance  with   the    text, "This   do  in    remem- 
brance  of  me."     This  fact  is  first  noted  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  in  the  words,  "  And  on  the 
first  day  of   the  week   when   we  were    gathered 
together  to  break  bread,"  i  indicating  that  their 
only  purpose  in  coming  together  was   to    break 
bread.     It  was  observed  in  the  same  spirit  and  in 
1  Acts  XX.  7. 


246     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

the  same  way  for  a  short  time  after  the  ascension 

of   Christ.     The   Master  had   taught   his   disciples 

that  salvation  was  to  be  obtained  by  believing  on 

him    without  the   use   of  forms   and    ceremonies. 

But  those  who  were  born  and  bred   Jews  could 

not  break    away  at  once  from  their  old  customs 

and    habits.       When    the     Gentiles    entered    the 

Church,  they  ignored  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  as  well 

as    the    law,  and    gradually   gave    attention    and 

respect  to  the   resurrection  day.     Naturally  there 

sprang  up    two  factions,    the    "  Jewish "    faction 

and  the  "  Gentile  "  faction.     The  Jewish  element 

maintained  that  converts  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles 

must  be  circumcised  and  keep  the   law.     We  are 

told  by  the  author  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 

that  the  Jews  which  believed  were  zealous  of  the 

law  and  kept  the  customs  of  the  Fathers.     "  Thou 

seest,    brother,    how   many   thousands    there    are 

among  the  Jews  of  them  which  have  believed  and 

they  are  all  zealous  for  the  law,"^  ought    to    be 

conclusive    on    this    point.       They    thought    that 

Christianity   was    something   added    to    Judaism. 

The  other  faction  held  that  Christianity  had  taken 

the  place  of  Judaism  and  that  all  was  new,  both 

wine  and  bottles.     Peter  and  Paul  seem,  at  least 

for  a  time,  to  be  the  representatives  of  these  two 

1  Acts  xxi.  20. 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord^s  Day.     247 

factions,  for  Paul  himself  says,  "  I  had  been 
entrusted  with  the  gospel  of  the  uncircumcision 
even  as  Peter  with  the  gospel  of  circumcision."  ^ 
In  other  words  Peter  was  an  Apostle  to  the  Jews 
and  Paul  was  an  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  Peter 
did  not  even  tliink  that  Gentiles  were  admitted  to 
the  Gospel  feast  until  his  vision  at  Joppa.  The 
controversy  was  long  and  stubborn.  However  an 
official  decision  was  not  far  off. 

Three  years  after  Paul's  conversion  he  went  up 
to  Jerusalem  and  met  with  Peter.^  They  in  all 
probability  had  some  understanding  regarding  the 
lines  of  teaching  that  each  should  follow.  After 
spending  about  fourteen  years  preaching  in  the 
provinces  of  Syria  and  Cilicia,  he  again  went  up 
to  Jerusalem  accompanied  by  Barnabas  and  Titus. 
Paul  conferred  with  Peter,  James,  and  John  who 
were  the  pillars  of  the  Church,  regarding  what 
condition  to  impose  upon  believing  Gentiles.  He 
says,  "  I  laid  before  them  the  Gospel  which  I 
preach  among  the  Gentiles,  but  privately  before 
them  who  were  of  repute,  lest  by  any  means  I 
should  be  running  or  had  run,  in  vain."  ^  When 
the  pillars  —  Peter,  James,  and  John  —  perceived 
the  graces  given  unto  Paul  and  the  noble  work 
he  was  doing,  they  gave  him  the  right  hand  of 
1  Gal.  ii.  7.  2  ibid.,  i.  is.  8  i^id.,  ii.  2. 


248     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

fellowship,  adding  this  admonition,  "  That  we 
should  go  unto  the  Gentiles,  and  they  unto  the 
circumcision ;  only  they  would  that  we  should 
remember  the  poor."  ^  Here  no  provision  of  the 
Mosaic  law  is  required  only  "  remembering  the 
poor."  Christ  and  the  ordinary  virtues  were  all 
that  were  required  of  the  Gentiles. 

The  controversy  did  not  abate,  but  rather  in- 
creased. However,  not  much  time  had  elapsed 
before  a  crisis  was  reached  in  Antioch.  Certain 
ones  came  down  from  Jerusalem  saying:  '' Except 
ye  be  circumcised  after  the  custom  of  IMoses,  ye 
cannot  be  saved."  ^  Paul  and  Barnabas  had  a 
great  dispute  with  these  emissaries  from  the  holy 
city,  so  they  determined  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem 
to  have  the  matter  settled.  This  was  the  occa- 
sion of  the  great  Council  of  Jerusalem,  the  first 
Council  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  the  most 
important  in  its  history.  After  the  matter  was 
thoroughly  considered  a  decision  was  rendered. 
The  provisions  of  this  decision  required  of  the 
Gentiles  only  the  following :  "  That  ye  abstain 
from  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  and  from  blood, 
and  from  things  strangled,  and  from  fornica- 
tion." ^  Paul  won  the  day.  The  Gentiles  were 
not  compelled  to  observe  the  Mosaic  law  with  the 
1  Gal.  ii.  9,  10.        2  Acts  xv.  1.        »  Ibid.,  xv.  29. 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord's  Day.     249 

exception  of  the  four  things  mentioned  above. 
They  had  gained  their  freedom  and  independence 
from  the  galling  yoke  of  Judaism.  This  was  the 
independence  day  for  a  Gentile  Christianity. 
No  one  could  demand  of  them  anything  that  was 
specifically  Mosaic  except  the  four  things  indi- 
cated by  the  Council.  Not  a  word  is  said  about 
the  circumcision,  sacrifices,  washings,  incense,  the 
Sabbath,  holy  days,  holy  weeks,  holy  months,  holy 
years,  and  the  Jubilee. 

The  Gentiles  did  not  observe  the  Sabbath  be- 
fore, neither  was  its  keeping  demanded  here.  As 
the  Sabbath  day  was  a  special  Jewish  day,  it  was 
entirely  ignored.  If  the  Sabbath  of  the  Jewish 
law  was  binding  upon  the  Gentiles  they  would 
most  certainly  have  mentioned  it  with  the  other 
requirements.  They  could  observe  the  Sabbath 
if  they  wished  to,  as  there  was  perfect  liberty  in 
religious  views,  but  only  the  four  things  men- 
tioned were  binding  upon  the  Gentiles.  It  was 
quite  evident  that  some  of  the  Jewish  converts 
still  kept  the  Sabbath  and  also  met  with  the 
Gentile  members  of  the  Church  on  the  resur- 
rection day,  but  the  Gentile  Christians  completely 
ignored  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  Discussions  on  this 
were  prevalent  in  Paul's  day,  but  he  answers 
them  in  this  manner :  "  One  man  esteemeth  one 


250     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

day  above  another ;  another  esteemeth  every  day 
alike.  Let  each  man  be  fully  assured  in  his  own 
niind."^  This  might  be  called  the  informal  period 
of  the  Church  as  far  as  a  holy  day  is  concerned. 
Neither  day  is  binding,  though  some  kept  both 
days.  The  Gentiles  in  the  Church  regarded  all 
days  holy  and  alike,  and  their  meeting  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week  was  not  because  the  day  was  more 
holy  than  other  days,  but  because  on  that  day 
Christ  rose  from  the  dead.  Paul  met  with  the 
Jews  frequently  on  the  Sabbath  because  it  af- 
forded him  an  opportunity  to  teach  them  and  win 
them  for  Christ. 

This  state  of  affairs  continued  till  after  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  when  every  vestige  of 
Judaism  seemed  to  be  swept  away.  After  this 
great  event  the  Judaistic  element  waned,  and  pure 
Christianity  with  its  Lord's  Day  triumphed.  We 
have  some  hints  after  this  that  a  few  still  observed 
both  days.  The  Ebionites  ceased  not  to  hallow 
both  the  Sabbath  and  the  Lord's  Day.  The  Apos- 
tolical Constitutions  refer  to  the  same  practice. 
The  Council  of  Ephesus  declared  against  the  Sab- 
bath, so  finally  the  struggle  was  ended. 

We  have  no  evidence  that  they  rested  entirely 
from  their  ordinary  work  on  the  Lord's  Day  be- 
1  Rom.  xiv.  5. 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord^s  Day.     251 

fore  the  end  of  the  fifth  century.  They  seemed 
to  meet  together  either  in  the  early  morning  or  in 
the  evening,  rehearse  their  experiences,  call  to 
mind  the  sayings  and  doings  of  Christ,  and  then 
partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Though  they  did 
not  rest  at  first  on  the  Lord's  Day,  they  did  ob- 
serve the  essential  thing,  and  that  is,  the  worship 
element.  But  as  the  great  event  grew  more 
remote,  the  day  grew  more  precious  until  about 
five  centuries  afterwards,  when  it  became  a  fully 
developed  Lord's    Day. 

In  the  middle  of  the  second  century  we  find 
from  the  writings  of  Justin  Martyr  that  they  had 
a  regular  order  of  service.  As  indicated  in  Chap- 
ter VIII.  the  order  is  as  follows:  1,  Reading 
memoirs  of  the  apostles  and  prophets;  2,  Prayer; 
3,  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper;  4,  Exhorta- 
tion by  the  President;  5,  Collection  for  the  poor. 
Though  long  established  by  the  Church  the  Lord's 
Day  received  civil  sanction  first  in  the  year  a.d.  321. 
This  boon  to  the  struggling  Church  was,  as  noted 
previously,  granted  by  Cons  tan  tine  in  the  follow- 
ing words :  "  On  the  venerable  day  of  the  sun  let 
the  magistrates  and  people  residing  in  the  cities 
rest,  and  let  all  workshops  be  closed.  In  the 
country,  however,  persons  engaged  in  the  work  of 
cultivation  may  freely  and  lawfully  continue  their 


252     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabhath  and  Sunday, 

pursuits;  because  it  often  happens  that  another 
day  is  not  so  suitable  for  grain-growing  or  for 
vine-planting;  lest  by  neglecting  the  proper  mo- 
ment for  such  operations  the  bounties  of  heaven 
should  be  lost."  ^  This  law  is  nothing  more  than 
a  state  recognition  of  the  Christian's  worship  day. 
It  evidently  represents  the  sentiments  of  the 
Church,  and  to  continue  agricultural  labors  was 
in  line  with  the  consensus  of  the  Church  itself. 

Two  later  laws  on  this  subject  are  said  to  have 
been  made  by  this  same  Emperor.  One  law  re- 
quired the  Christian  section  of  his  army  to  rest 
on  the  Lord's  Day  from  military  exercises  and  to 
repair  with  all  diligence  to  divine  worship;  and 
the  other  called  upon  his  pagan  soldiery  to  lay 
aside  their  arms  on  that  day  and  repair  to  the 
fields,  where  they  were  to  offer  up  a  prayer  com- 
posed by  himself  to  the  Supreme  King  of  all.^ 
The  way  had  been  prepared  for  civil  decrees  by 
the  decisions  of  the  Church,  through  its  councils, 
bearing  upon  the  established  institution  of  the 
Lord's  Day.  Though  these  councils  were  in  no 
case  general  before  this  time,  but  rather  provincial, 
yet  it  showed  the  sentiment  in  the  Church.  The 
council  above  referred  to,  was  Elvira  in  a.d.  305 
or  306,  which  declared  "  That  all  who  absented 
1  Sunday  by  Hessey,  p.  58.  2  ibj^.,  p.  82. 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord^s  Day,     253 

themselves  three  Lord's  Days  should  be  sus- 
pended ;  "  ^  also  the  Council  of  Gangra  which  met 
not  far  from  this  time  and  condemned  those  who 
made  the  Lord's  Day  a  day  of  fasting.  "  If  any 
one  from  pretended  asceticism  fasts  on  Sunday  let 
him  be  anathema."  ^ 

Four  years  after  the  action  of  Constantine,  the 
Ecumenical  Council  of  Nicaea,  among  other  things 
took  action  on  the  Christian's  worship  day,  making 
it  the  subject  of  a  canon.  It  states,  ^' As  some  kneel 
on  the  Lord's  Day  and  on  the  days  of  Pentecost, 
the  holy  synod  has  decided  that  for  the  observance 
of  a  general  rule  all  shall  offer  their  prayers  to 
God  standing.  "2  This  does  not  take  into  con- 
sideration even  the  authority  of  the  rest  day  of 
the  Christian.  And  why  should  it?  The  day 
with  its  origin  and  purpose  was  not  questioned. 
It  was  too  near  the  origin  of  the  institution.  No 
one  doubted  that  the  day  originated  with  Christ 
and  his  apostles  and  continued  in  an  unbroken 
succession  till  that  very  time.  It  would  be  ludi- 
crous for  a  convention  in  America,  to  decree  as 
something  doubted  or  unknown,  that  the  fourth  of 
July  was  the  day  in  which  America  proclaimed 
its  independence.  It  might  be  appropriate  twenty 
centuries  hence,  but  at  present  it  is  too  near  the 
1  Sunday,  p.  81.  ^  ibid.,p,  81.        »  Ibid.,  p.  ^1 . 


254     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

original  independence  day.  The  identical  con- 
dition of  affairs  existed  at  the  time  of  this  general 
council  concerning  the  relation  of  the  Lord's  Day 
to  the  resurrection  of  Christ. 

It  did  not  legislate  upon  the  worship  of  the  day, 
for  the  custom  of  three  centuries  had  stamped  it- 
self upon  their  minds,  and  now  it  needed  no  other 
sanction  than  this  long-time  usage.  The  council 
did  not  refer  to  the  fourth  commandment  as  the 
ground  of  the  Lord's  Day  observance.  This  was 
never  thought  of  because  they  were  in  no  way 
under  the  law,  but  looked  only  to  Christ  as  an 
authority  in  all  things. 

There  was  nothing  important  regarding  the 
grounds,  nature,  time,  and  form  of  worship,  to 
call  up  the  question  in  any  other  ecumenical 
council,  yet  provincial  synods  located  in  various 
districts,  passed  upon  many  matters  pertaining  to 
the  resurrection  day,  arising  out  of  conditions 
particularly  in  their  own  diocese. 

The  Council  of  Antioch,  meeting  in  A.D.  340, 
comes  next  in  order  and  condemns  those  who 
come  to  hear  the  Scripture  read,  but  do  not  join 
in  the  prayer  or  the  eucharist.  The  Council  of 
Sardica  a.d.  347  endorsed  the  action  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Elvira. 

From  a  canon  of  the  Council  of  Laodicea,  dating 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord^s  Day.     255 

about  A.D.  365,  it  is  inferred  that  some  rested  on 
the  First  Day  and  some  on  the  Sabbath  of  the 
Jews.  This  body  of  divines  decreed  that  "  Chris- 
tians are  not  to  Judaize  and  rest  on  the  Sabbath 
Day,  but  preferring  the  Lord's  Day  in  honor,  are 
on  it,  if  possible,  to  rest  as  Christians.  But  if  they 
are  found  to  Judaize,  let  them  be  anathema  from 
Christ."  1  According  to  the  above.  Christians 
were  to  be  condemned  for  resting  on  the  Sabbath, 
and  specifically  directed  to  honor  the  day  of  the 
Christians.  After  the  time  of  the  Apostolic 
Fathers,  when  two  days  were  observed  in  any 
community,  the  Church  took  action  to  have  all 
hold  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord  only,  and  drop 
all  Judaic  requirements.  Constantino  qualified 
his  edict  of  prohibition  soon  after  its  promulga- 
tion so  as  to  allow  acts  conferring  liberty  and 
legal  rights,  in  the  way  of  giving  freedom  to 
slaves,  or  setting  a  son  free  from  paternal  power. 
This  law  was  followed  by  that  of  Valentinian  and 
Valens  in  a.d.  368  which  protected  Christians 
from  legal  processes  for  debt.  Both  these  laws 
were  repeated  a.d.  386,  with  the  additional  pro- 
hibition of  trials  before  arbitrators.^  It  seems  that 
Christianity  had  now  become  the  religion  of  the 
state. 

1  Quar.  Rev.,  Vol.  185,  49.     ^  Sunday,  p.  84. 


256     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

Theodosius  the  Great,  in  a.d.  379  confirmed  all 
this  and  made  not  only  the  "  Day  of  the  Sun,"  but 
one  hundred  and  twenty-four  other  special  days 
legal  holidays  during  the  year.  He  also  abolished 
spectacles  in  which  the  heathen  had  found  their 
consolation  when  the  day  had  been  set  apart  for 
other  than  secular  uses  by  Constantine. 

The  Council  of  Toledo  in  a.d.  400  repeated  the 
action  of  the  Council  of  Antioch.  The  fourth 
Council  of  Carthage  in  a.d.  436  enacted  that  any 
one  leaving  the  church  during  preaching  was 
to  be  excommunicated.  It  also  discountenanced 
attendance  on  games  and  the  public  service  on  the 
Lord's  Day. 

The  law  of  the  younger  Theodosius  in  a.d. 
425,  forbade  any  performance  at  the  circus  or 
theatre  on  the  Lord's  Day  and  other  important 
Christian  festivals.  He  ordered  that  the  Emper- 
or's birthday  be  held  in  less  honor  than  the  holy 
day.  Leo  and  Anthemius  speak  in  still  stronger 
language,  stating  that  if  the  Emperor's  birthday 
fell  on  the  Lord's  Day  the  celebration  was  to 
be  put  off  and  requiring  the  day  to  be  kept 
sacred  not  only  from  business  but  from  the 
obscene  pleasures  of  the  stage  and  circus.  Their 
laws  contain  the  following  statement  about  the 
Lord's   Day.     "  The    Lord's    Day   we  decree    to 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord^s  Day,     257 

be  ever  so  honored  and  revered,  that  it  should  be 
exempt  from  all  compulsory  process ;  let  no  sum- 
mons urge  any  man;  let  no  one  be  required 
to  give  security  for  the  payment  of  a  fund  held 
by  him  in  trust ;  let  the  Serjeants  of  the  courts 
be  silent;  let  the  pleader  cease  his  labors;  let  that 
day  be  a  stranger  to  trials ;  be  the  crier's  voice 
unheard;  let  the  litigants  have  breathing  time 
and  an  interval  of  truce  ;  let  the  rival  disputants 
have  an  opportunity  of  meeting  without  fear;  of 
comparing  the  arrangements  made  in  their  names 
and  arranging  the  terms  of  a  compromise.  If  any 
officer  of  the  courts  under  the  pretence  of  pubhc 
or  private  business,  dares  to  despise  these  enact- 
ments let  his  patrimony  be  forfeited."  ^  Now  we 
come  to  the  notable  Third  Council  of  Orleans, 
A.D.  538,  which  decreed  among  other  things  the 
following  canon :  "  It  is  a  Jewish  superstition  that 
it  is  unlawful  to  ride  or  drive  on  Sunday,  or  do 
anything  for  the  decoration  of  house  or  person. 
But  field  labors  are  forbidden,  so  that  people  may 
be  able  to  come  to  Church  and  worship."^  Con- 
stantine  forbid  work  in  town,  but  permitted 
agricultural  labors.  This  Council  forbids  even 
agricultural   labors,    thus    practically   prohibiting 

1  Sunday,  p.  84. 

2  History  of  the  Councils  of  the  Church  by  Hefele,  Canon  28. 


258     Scientific  Basis  of  Sablath  and  Sunday, 

all  kinds  of  labor.  The  Council  of  Orleans  is  an 
important  one  to  the  Church  historian,  as  it  is  the 
first  Council  that  prohibits  all  kinds  of  ordinary 
labor.  We  have  now  for  the  first  time  the  fully 
developed  Lord's  Day  hedged  about  with  many 
restrictions  similar  in  kind  to  the  American 
Sunday. 

The  second  Synod  of  Macon  in  the  year  a.d. 
585,  directed,  "  That  no  one  should  on  the  Lord's 
Day  yoke  his  cattle  under  the  plea  of  necessity, 
but  that  all  should  exercise  themselves  in  hymns 
and  praise  to  God,  being  intent  thereon  both  in 
body  and  in  mind.  If  any  man  has  a  Church  at 
hand  he  is  to  go  to  it.  It  is  the  everlasting  day 
of  rest  foreshadowed  by  the  seventh  day  in  the  law 
and  prophets."^  The  preamble  to  this  canon 
gives  some  idea  of  the  prevailing  condition  of 
affairs.  It  says:  "It  is  observed  that  Christian 
people  do  very  rashly  slight  and  neglect  the  Lord's 
Day,  giving  themselves  as  on  other  days  to  con- 
tinual labors." 

This  point  of  Sunday  history  appears  to  divide 
the  past  from  the  future.  All  the  past  based  the 
keeping  of  the  Lord's  Day  on  apostolic  practice, 
and  in  no  way  associated  the  Sabbath  of  the  Jews 
with  the  resurrection  day  of  Christianity.  From 
Qiiar.  Rev.  Vol.  185,  51. 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord's  Day,     259 

this  point  onward  there  was  a  decided  tendency 
towards  the  legal  Jewish  Sabbath. 

For  the  next  thousand  years  rulers  and  councils 
issued  edicts  and  decrees,  most  of  which  were  of 
the  same  strain  as  those  already  enacted,  with  the 
exception  of  its  bearing  in  the  direction  of  Sab- 
batarianism. It  would  be  wearisome  to  detail 
the  various  enactments  of  the  different  countries 
touching  the  Sunday  question,  but  we  will  record 
here  a  few  prominent  cases  which  will  serve  to 
indicate  the  line  of  thought  and  legislation. 

The  Eastern  and  Western  Churches  followed  up 
the  exa-mple  of  the  Council  of  Orleans,  and  made 
civil  laws  forbidding,  in  Puritanic  fashion,  all 
kinds  of  labors. 

In  the  Eastern  Churcb  the  edict  of  Leo  Philo- 
sophus  in  A.D.  884,  annulled  part  of  the  edict  of 
Constantino  and  "  Granted  absolute  rest  as  com- 
m.anded  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  Apostles  by 
Him." 

In  the  Western  Church,  Clothaire,  King  of 
France,  issued  an  edict  in  which  he  did  away 
with  the  servile  labors  on  the  Lord's  Day.  The 
Sunday  laws  made  in  the  reign  of  Charlemagne 
were  stricter  and  attended  with  severer  penalties. 

England  kept  pace  with  other  countries  in 
hedging  the    Lord's   Day  with  Puritanic  restrio- 


260     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

tions.  The  Council  of  Clovishoff  in  a.d.  747  for- 
bade travelling  on  Sunday.  Edgar  the  Peaceable 
issued  a  law  in  a.d.  958  in  which  he  declared  the 
Lord's  Day  to  commence  at  "  Three  o'clock  on 
Saturday  afternoon  and  last  till  dawn  on  Mon- 
day." In  the  twelfth  century  St.  Bernard  of 
Clair vaux  claims  authority  for  the  Lord's  Day  in 
the  fourth  commandment.  This  is  the  first  clear 
statement  that  the  obligation  of  the  Lord's  Day 
rested  upon  the  fourth  commandment.  Here  are 
over  eleven  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  that  have 
passed  away  without  a  clear  mention,  by  teachers 
or  writers,  of  the  holy  day  of  the  Christians  being 
founded  on  a  Judaic  ordinance.  Close  upon  the 
statement  of  St.  Bernard  comes  that  of  Petros 
Alphonsus  in  which  he  first  uses  the  term  "  Chris- 
tian Sahhath''^  as  connected  with  the  Lord's 
Day.  The  fourth  commandment  in  the  above  is 
not  taken  in  a  strict  sense,  but  vaguely  represents 
all  the  holy  days  enjoined  by  the  Church. 

A  very  significant  statement  comes  from 
Thomas  Aquinas  which  shows  the  prevailing 
thought  of  the  times  regarding  the  authority  of 
the  Lord's  Day.  He  says  that  the  institutions  of 
the  Lord's  Day,  and  other  festivals,  are  not  di- 
vine laws,  but  are  human  laws  in  the  form  of 
canons ;    also   he    maintained   that   all    Christian 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord's  Bay,     261 

festivals    corresponded  to   those  of   the  law,  the 
Sabbath  being  changed  to  the  Lord's  Day.     This 
view  is  supported  and  perfected  in  the  direction 
of   the  Rabbinical   Sabbath   by   the  teachings  of 
Tostatus,  Bishop  of  Avila.     He  wrote  a  commen- 
tary on  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Exodus,  in  which 
he  laid  down  rules  to  the  minutest  circumstances 
of  life.     Here  are  some  of  his  restrictions  :  "  Meat 
may  be  dressed  upon  the  Lord's  Day  or  the  other 
holy  days,  but  to  wash  dishes  on  those  days  is  un- 
lawful;  that  must  be  deferred  to  another  day;" 
also,  "  A  man  that  travels  on  holy  days  to  any 
special  shrine  or  saint,  commits  sin  if  he  returns 
home  on  these  days."     It  is  quite  evident  that  the 
Lord's  Day  did  not  stand  above  other  days  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Church.     The  Synod  of  Lyons  which 
met  in  a.d.  1244,  gives  us  a  hst  of  these  holy  days. 
They    are   the  following:    Christ's   Nativity,    St. 
Stephen,  St.  John,  The  Innocents,  St.  Sylvester, 
Circumcision,  Epiphany,  Easter,  with   the  week 
before  and  the  week  after  three    Rogation  days, 
Whitsundays,  and  two  days  after,  St.  John  Bap- 
tist, Feast  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  all  of  the  Feasts 
of  our  Lady,  St.  Lawrence,  all  the  Lord's  Days  of 
the    year,    St.  Michael,   All  Saints,  St.  Martin's, 
Wakes  of  particular  Churches,  and  local  Saints,^ 
1  Quarterly  Review,  Jan.  '97,  p.  52. 


262     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

On  all  these  days  work  was  forbidden.  The 
Church  Avas  so  burdened  with  holy  days  and  fes- 
tivals that  no  day  was  kept  with  a  reasonable  de- 
gree of  respect.  Furthermore  the  authority  for 
these  days  was  based,  for  the  last  few  centuries, 
on  the  decisions  of  the  Church.  They  felt  the 
obligation  of  these  holy  days  because  the  Church 
said  so,  and  if  it  did  not  declare  upon  any  par- 
ticular day,  they  felt  exempt  from  any  obligation. 
This  is  the  ecclesiastical  view  of  the  Sabbath. 
There  is  nothing  in  this  view  that  would  touch 
the  conscience  of  the  followers  of  Christ;  so  in 
order  to  give  emphasis  to  special  holy  days  they 
were  paralleled  with  the  festivals  of  the  Old 
Testament.  This  made  them  more  binding  on  the 
conscience  of  the  people.  The  transition  from 
this  to  basing  the  Lord's  Day  on  the  authority  of 
the  Old  Testament  commandments,  was  quite 
natural.  It  was  only  a  short  time  after  the  Lord's 
Day  was  paralleled  with  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  that 
it  was  identified  with  the  rest-day  of  the  Hebrews. 
The  principal  thing  that  hastened  this  view,  was 
the  attitude  the  reformers  took  towards  the  Church 
of  Rome.  They  denied  the  authority  of  the  pope 
in  religious  matters,  and  as  Sunday  was  based 
upon  the  decrees  of  the  Church,  they  therefore 
had  to  seek  its  authority  elsewhere.     It  was  found 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord's  Day.     263 

in  that  which  took  the  place  of  the  pope,  viz., 
"  The  Holy  Bible."  Under  these  circumstances 
the  fourth  commandment  was  quickly  seized  as 
a  Scripture  warrant  for  the  observance  of  the 
Lord's  Day.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  condition 
of  affairs  it  is  doubtful  whether  this  view  would 
have  gained  wide-spread  currency  in  the  Christian 
Church. 

The  demoralized  condition  of  the  Church,  and 
the  fact  that  there  were  so  many  holy  days  no 
one  of  which  was  kept  properly,  called  for  many 
minute  restrictions  round  Sunday  which  resulted 
in  producing  the  Sabbatarian  vieW.  This  state  of 
affairs  was  instrumental  in  originating  the  Petro- 
brussians,  Waldenses,  and  Lollards,  who  dis- 
carded Church  days  entirely.  But  it  produced  more 
than  these  sects,  it  brought  on  the  Reformation, 
which  we  will  now  briefly  consider. 

The  Reformers  did  not  all  share  the  same 
opinions  regarding  the  authority  of  the  Lord's 
Day.  Two  leading  views  of  the  Lord's  Day 
divided  the  Reformers  at  this  stage  of  their  work ; 
those  in  Germany  and  Switzerland  regarded  it  in 
a  certain  sense  a  Church  day  depending  on  the 
Church  for  its  authority.  Those,  particularly  the 
Puritans,  in  England  and  Holland  made  promi- 
nent  the   Lord's   Day  over  other  holy  days  and 


264     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday, 

based  it  on  the  commandment  of  the  decalogue. 
These  two  are  still  prevalent  in  the  countries 
named,  and  no  doubt  have  much  to  do  with  the 
different  way  the  Christian's  worship  day  is  now 
observed. 

It  would  no  doubt  be  interesting  to  the  reader 
to  have  the  views  of  Martin  Luther  presented. 
He  says  :  "  If  anywhere  the  day  is  made  holy  for 
the  mere  day's  sake,  if  anywhere  anyone  sets  up 
its  observance  on  a  Jewish  foundation,  then  I 
order  you  to  work  on  it,  to  ride  on  it,  to  dance  on 
it,  to  feast  on  it,  to  do  anything  that  shall  remove 
this  encroachment  on  Christian  liberty."^  This 
is  an  individual  opinion,  but  the  Augsburg 
Confession  a.d.  1530  expresses  the  view  of  the 
Protestants  at  least  in  Germany.  It  declares: 
''Those  who  judge  that  in  the  place  of  the  Sab- 
bath, the  Lord's  Day  was  instituted  as  a  day  to 
be  necessarily  observed  are  greatly  mistaken. 
Scripture  abrogated  the  Sabbath  and  teaches  that 
all  Mosaic  ceremonies  may  be  omitted  now  that 
the  Gospel  is  revealed.  And  yet  forasmuch  as  it 
was  needful  to  appoint  a  certain  day  that  the 
people  might  know  when  they  ought  to  assemble 
together,  it  appears  that  the  Church  destined  the 
Lord's  Day  for  that  purpose.  This  day  seems  to 
1  Sunday,  p.  166. 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord's  Day.    265 

have  rather  pleased  them^  in  order  that  men  might 
have  thereby  a  proof  of  Christian  liberty,  and 
know  that  the  observance  whether  of  the  Sabbath  or 
of  the  other  day  was  not  a  matter  of  necessity. '  '^ 

The  Swiss  Reformers  held  substantially  the 
same  opinion,  which  was  given  in  the  Second 
Helvetic  Confession.  The  following  are  the  words 
of  the  Confession :  "  Hence  we  see  that  in  the 
Churches  of  old  from  the  times  of  the  apostles 
not  merely  were  certain  days  of  the  week  ap- 
pointed for  religious  assemblies,  but  the  Lord's 
Day  itself  was  consecrated  to  that  purpose  and  to 
holy  rest.  The  practice  of  our  Churches  retains 
it  for  worship's  sake  and  for  charity's  sake.  But 
we  do  not  thereby  give  countenance  to  Judaic 
observances  and  to  superstition.  We  do  not  be- 
lieve, either  that  one  day  is  more  sacred  than 
another,  and  that  mere  rest  in  itself  is  pleasing  to 
God.  We  keep  a  Lord's  Day,  not  a  Sabbath  day 
by  an  unconstrained  observance.  "^ 

The  English  Reformers  differed  somewhat  from 
their  continental  brethren  regarding  the  claims  to 
keep  sacred  the  Lord's  Day.  While  there  was 
much  controversy,  and  many  diverse  opinions 
held  by  individuals,  yet  the  general  drift  was  in 
the  direction  of  Mosaic  ordinances  as  the  basis  of 
1  Sunday,  p.  168.  ^  jbi^j^^  p,  172. 


266     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

the  Lord's  Day  observance.  About  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century  the  ten  commandments  were 
incorporated  into  the  English  Church  formulary. 
After  this  the  Church  in  its  eighty-second  canon 
decreed  "  That  the  ten  commandments  be  set  up 
on  the  east  end  of  every  Church  and  Chapel, 
where  the  people  may  best  see  and  read  the 
same."  ^  In  this  case  the  fourth  commandment 
in  a  mystical  sense  represented  the  whole  hst  of 
holy  days.  In  fact  we  are  told  that  the  term 
Sabbath  never  obtained  a  place  in  the  formulary 
of  the  English  Church.^  Cranmer  described  Sun- 
day as  resting  its  authority  on  the  Church  and 
magistrates,  and  he  drew  no  distinction  between 
it  and  any  other  Church  holy  day.  The  begin- 
ning of  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign  was  marked  by  a 
law  ordering  all  clergymen  to  teach  their  parish- 
ioners "  That  they  may  with  a  safe  and  quiet 
conscience,  after  their  common  prayer  in  the  time 
of  harvest,  labor  upon  the  holy  and  festival  days 
over  that  thing  which  God  has  sent;  and  if  from 
any  scrupulosity  or  qualms  of  conscience  men 
should  superstitiously  abstain  from  working  upon 
those  days  that  then  they  should  grievously 
offend  and  displease  God."  ^ 

1  Sunday,  p.  157.       2  Quarterly  Review,  Jan.  '97,  p.  56. 
«  Democracy  and  Liberty  by  Lecky,  ^'ol.  ii.,  101. 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord^s  Day.     267 

But  the  Puritan  element  was  growing  rapidly, 
and  a  great  change  set  in  before  the  close  of  the 
reign.     In   a  homily  on  "  The  time  and  place  of 
prayer,"  contained  in  the  second  volume  of  Homi- 
lies,  ordered  by   convocation   in   1563,   Sunday  is 
grounded   on   the    fourth   commandment.     This  is 
what  is  referred  to  :  "  Albeit  this  commandment 
of  God  doth  not  bind  Christian  people  so  straitly 
as  to  abstain  ?nd  keep  the  utter  ceremonies  of  the 
Sabbath  Day  as  it  was  given  unto  the  Jews.  .  .  . 
Yet,  notwithstanding,  whatsoever  is  found  in  the 
commandments  appertaining  to  the  law  of  nature, 
ought  to  be  restrained  and  kept  of  all  Christian 
people.'^  Sunday  in  the  Homily  is  described  as  the 
Christian  Sabbath  day,  and  rests  for  its  authority 
on  the  Mosaic  decalogue  though  limited  to   the 
law  of  nature.     The  unlimited   authority  of  the 
fourth    commandment   was   not   far    off.      After 
the   earthquake   in  1580    the   churches    read   an 
admonition  which  contains  the  following  :    "  The 
Sabbath  days  and  holy  days  ...  are   spent  full 
heathenishly  in  taverning,  tippling,  gaming,  play- 
ing, and  beholding  of  bear-baiting  and  stage  plays,  to 
the  utter  dishonor  of  God,  impeachment  of  all  god- 
liness, and  unnecessary  consuming  of  men's  sub- 
stance.      The    want    of    ordinary  discipline    and 
catechising  hath  either  sent  great  numbers  both 


268     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

old  and  young  back  to  papacy  or  let  them  run 
loose  unto  godless  atheism."  ^  This  lawlessness 
intensified  the  current  in  the  direction  of  Sab- 
batarianism. A  work  by  Dr.  Nicolas  Bownd 
entitled,  "  The  True  Sabbath  and  the  New  Testa- 
m^nt,"  appeared  in  A.D.  1595,  and  produced  a 
wonderful  effect  in  moulding  English  thought. 
It  is  stated  that  this  is  the  first  assertion  in  Eng- 
land of  the  Puritan  doctrine  of  the  Sabbath.^  In 
this  book  he  claimed  that  the  Lord's  Day  rested 
for  its  authority  on  the  fourth  commandment. 
The  book  presented  the  case  in  a  winning  way, 
and  made  a  deep  impression  upon  all  thoughtful 
minds.  The  claim  is  put  forth  that  this  book  is 
the  origin,  life,  and  backing  of  the  Puritans  in 
their  views  upon  the  Sabbath.  It  certainly  gave 
a  mighty  impulse  to  the  Puritan  Sunday.  Though 
this  idea  was  known  before,  it  was  not  till  Nicolas 
Bownd's  book  that  it  took  hold  upon  the  people. 
This  is  due  to  the  subject  being  presented  in  such 
a  clear,  definite,  and  convincing  manner.  The 
Puritans  seem  to  have  taken  kindly  to  this  book, 
and  in  a  comparatively  brief  period  of  time  estab- 
lished public  opinion  on  this  particular  view  of 
the  Sabbath.      Lecky  states  :  "  Before  the  death 

1  Sunday,  p.  157. 

2  Quarterly  Review,  Jan.,  1897,  p.  56. 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord^s  Day.     269 

of  James  the  First  the  Jewish  Sabbath  appears 
to  have  been  accepted  by  the  whole  body  of  Eng- 
lish Puritans,"  ^  and  furthermore  says,  that  this 
doctrine  was  supreme  in  the  time  of  the  Common- 
wealth. Even  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  "car- 
riers, waggoners  and  packmen  were  forbidden  to 
travel  on  Sunday."  Bownd's  ideas  spread  to  Hol- 
land, and  affected  the  minds  of  the  leaders  there. 
The  Synod  of  Dort  evidently  revealed  the  prevail- 
ing thought.  The  extra  sessions  of  this  synod 
approved  these  six  items :  — 

1.  In  the  fourth  commandment  of  the  law  of 
God,  there  is  something  ceremonial  and  something 
moral. 

2.  The  resting  upon  the  seventh  day  after 
creation,  and  the  strict  observance  of  it,  which 
was  particularly  imposed  upon  the  Jewish  people, 
was  the  ceremonial  part  of  the  law. 

8.  But  the  moral  part  is,  that  a  certain  day  be 
fixed  and  appropriated  to  the  service  of  God,  and 
as  much  rest  as  is  necessary  to  that  service  and 
the  holy  meditation  upon  him. 

4.  The  Jewish  Sabbath  being  abolished,  Chris- 
tians are  obliged  solemnly  to  keep  holy  the  Lord's 
Day. 

5.  This   day  has   ever   been  observed  by  the 

1  Democracy  and  Liberty,  Vol.  ii.,  p.  104. 


270     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

ancient  Catholic  Church  from  the  time  of  the 
Apostles. 

6.  This  day  ought  to  be  appropriated  to  re- 
ligion in  such  a  manner  as  that  we  should  abstain 
from  all  servile  works  at  that  time  excepting  those 
of  charity  and  necessity ;  as  Hkewise  from  all 
such  diversions  as  are  contrary  to  religion."  ^ 

The    controversy    COnti7-m<^rl    -For    c\^(^r    nnp    Vmr>- 

dred  yearSa^but  the  SRbbatarinn  vi^^ff  still  grew, 
and  finally  was_th£ .prevailing  dootrineJn, E ngland 
and  part  of  the  Continent,  at  least  among  some  of 
the  Protestants.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church 
still  maintained  that  the  holy  days  are  Church 
days,  and  have  never  applied  the  term  Sabbath  to 
Sunday,  yet  in  their  catechism,  prepared  by  the 
Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore,  this  is  found  : 
"  What  are  we  commanded  by  the  third  command- 
ment? Answer.  By  the  third  commandment  we 
are  commanded  to  keep  holy  the  Lord's  Day  and 
the  holy  days  of  obligation,  on  which  we  are  to 
give  our  time  to  the  service  and  worship  of  God." 
Here  the  obligation  of  the  Lord's  Day  rests  on  the 
third  (fourth)  commandment. 

Not  far  from  the  Reformation  period,  a  revival 
along  this  line  appeared.  On  account  of  the 
loose  religious  life  at  that  time,  and  the  special 

1  Sunday,  p.  175. 


Historical  Development  of  the  Lord's  Day.     271 

emphasis  put  upon  the  fourth  commandment^  some_ 
went  so  far  as  to  maintain  that  the  Seventh  day 
or  Saturday  wasth^  true  Sabbath.  ^^^T^^^ 
the  practice  of  sects  among  the  Waldenses._Some 
sects  such  as  the  Abyssinians  kept  the  Sabbath  day 
long  before  this,  but  they  seem  to  have  observed 
Sunday  also. 

TTTPfir«t_gpvPTitb  "Hay  Chnrph  orio-inatedin 
England  about  a.d.  1670,  in  the  east  of  London, 
and  was  called  the  Mill- Yard  Church.  In 
America  the  same  views  were  promulgated  by 
Stephen  Mumford,  who  came  from  London  in 
1664,  and  a  church  was  organized  in  Newport, 
R.L,  in  1671.  A  second  Seventh  Day  Baptist 
Church  was  formed  in  1707  under  the  leadership 
of  Edward  Dunham  of  Piscataway,  N.J.  _A 
marked  revival  of  this  doctrine  of  the_  Saturday  _ 
Sabbath  under  the  name  of  Seventh  Day  Advent- 


ists  took  place  in  1844,  commencing  in  New 
Hampshire  by  the  teachings  of  Mrs.  Rachel  D. 
Preston.  Though  this  sect  and  those  like  them  in 
doctrine  are  very  zealous  and  devoted,  yet  their 
following  is  small.  The  teachings  of  the  Puritans 
of  England  regarding  the  Sabbatarian  Sunday  were 
brought  to  and  spread  in  America  by  them.  Now, 
generally  speaking,  the  view  that  the  Lord's  Day 
rests    upon   the  decalogue  for  its  authority,  has 


272    Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

decided  sway  in  America.  Some  scholars  have 
pointed  out  the  error  of  this  Sabbatarian  view  of 
basing  the  Lord's  Day  on  the  fourth  command- 
ment; but  this  new  idea  is,  so  far,  of  slow  growth. 
An  encouraging  sign  is  the  great  number  who, 
being  dissatisfied  with  the  popular  views  on  the 
Lord's  Day,  are  seriously  studying  the  matter,  and 
we  are  confident  that  tjie  truth  will  prevail. 


The  Test  of  Sunday  Propriety.  273 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE  TEST   OF    SUNDAY   PROPRIETY. 

Having  put  the  Sabbath  and  Sunday  on  a 
scientific  basis,  we  have  come  to  a  final  question, 
important  to  every  conscientious  citizen.  How 
may  we  observe  the  Lord's  Day  with  propriety 
and  be  able  to  give  an  adequate  reason  for  its 
observance  ?  What  is  Sunday  desecration  ?  Why 
should  some  things  be  prohibited  and  other  things 
be  permitted  on  the  Lord's  Day  ? 

The  question  is  of  serious  interest  at  this  par- 
ticular time  of  our  nationa  llife.  Before  setting  up 
a  touchstone  by  which  to  judge  of  the  Tightness 
or  the  wrongness  of  forms  of  conduct  on  the 
sacred  day  of  the  Christian,  we  deem  it  fitting  to 
make  a  few  preliminary  observations. 

Some  declare  that  things  of  mere  convenience 
should  be  omitted  on  Sunday.  The  ocean  steamer 
never  stops  on  its  journey,  but  it  plows  onward  to 
its  destination.  This  is  a  convenience  to  the  pas- 
sengers, but  nobody  pronounces  it  wrong. 


274     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

When  the  fire  brigade  is  called  out  to  extin- 
guish a  fire  no  one  charges  them  with  Sunday 
desecration.  The  milk-cart  has  free  right  of  way 
on  the  Lord's  Day.  The  electrician  holds  himself 
ready  to  answer  calls  for  repairs  or  accidents,  and 
hesitates  not  to  keep  the  machinery  going  night 
and  day,  including  the  day  of  divine  service.  The 
operators  of  the  gas  plant  are  loyal  to  their  post 
throughout  the  hours  of  Sunday.  Street  cars  in 
all  American  cities  are  considered  a  necessity  and 
comparatively  little  fault  is  found.  When  the 
pressure  of  business  is  great,  legislative  assemblies 
sometimes  meet  on  that  day,  and  public  opinion 
regards  it  as  within  the  bounds  of  propriety.  The 
church  janitor  does  not  obey  the  injunction, 
"To  do  no  manner  of  work"  on  Sunday,  neither 
does  any  upbraid  him  for  his  labor.  The  house- 
keeper has  to  work  harder  on  the  Lord's  Day, 
oftentimes,  than  any  other.  Li  many  American 
cities,  museums  and  art  galleries  are  open  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  also  musical  concerts  for  the 
public  are  furnished  by  the  authorities,  all  with 
the  consent  of  the  best  people  who  are  capable  of 
judging.  These  cases  indicate  how  difficult  it  is 
to  settle  on  a  basis  that  will  clearly  determine 
what  is  proper  and  what  is  improper  on  the 
Lord's  Day.     Some  of  these  things  are  an  absolute 


The  Test  of  Sunday  Propriety.  275 

necessity  and  some  are  simply  a  convenience. 
However,  our  criterion,  though  it  may  not  in  all 
cases  decide  the  propriety  or  impropriety  of  an  act 
on  the  given  day,  will  yet  decide  for  us  all 
those  acts  of  an  important  character. 

It  is  not  because  it  is  a  holy  day  or  God's  Day 
or  because  there  is  a  fourth  commandment^  that 
we  keep  the  first  day  of  the  week,  but^Jbecause 
it  is  a  worship  day:  this  is  the  one  thought  that 
will  be  used  in  determining  the  propriety  of 
Sunday  conduct.  If  any  action  prevents  people 
from  worshipping,  or  unfits  the  mental  conditions 
for  worship,  or  disturbs  that  quiet  and  peace 
necessary  for  spiritual  worship,  it  must  be  judged 
as  wrong  by  our  standard.  The  things  mentioned 
in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter  which  we  call  con- 
veniences are  not  wrong  by  our  standard,  because 
they  do  not  interfere  in  an  appreciable  way  with 
divine  meditation  and  worship.  Public  shows, 
and  spectacles  that  have  a  tendency  to  draw  the 
public  attention  from  the  place  of  worship  or 
divine  things,  are  not  to  be  allowed  on  Sunday. 
All  enterprises  undertaken  for  the  revenue  that  is 
in  them,  are  not  to  be  permitted  unless  they  meet 
a  need  felt  by  the  higher  interests  of  the  com- 
munity. Pastimes  that  have  a  dissipating  ten- 
dency cannot  be  regarded  as  a  legitimate  exercise 


276     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

on  that  day.     Then  the  proper  conditions  of  the 
day  are  1,  Rest  from  labor  ;  2,  Quiet  and  Peace  ; 
3,  Freedom  from  disturbing  public  elements ;  4, 
Freedom  from  dissipating  tendencies.     There  are 
other  so-called  tests  which  we   shall  now  exam- 
ine.     One  of  these  is  *'  Any  and  all  uses  that 
contribute  to  the  best  welfare    and  the  greatest 
happiness  of  the  race."     This  is  too  broad  and  too 
indefinite.     The  same  could  be  said    of   Monday, 
Tuesday,  etc.      Something   more   distinctive   and 
specific  is  needed  in  deciding  the  right  and  wrong 
uses  of   the  Lord's    Day.     It  is  also  stated  that 
"  If  anything  lowers  the  tone  of  society  it  should 
not  be   allowed   on  Sunday."     There   is  no  dis- 
tinctive feature  here  for  that  would  hold  good  on 
any  other  day  of  the  week.     The  only  legitimate 
standard   is    this :    anything   that   interferes   with 
divine  worship  or  the  favorable  conditions  of  divine 
worship  is  a  violation  of  the  proprieties  of  the  day. 
This  does  not  necessarily  exclude  special  acts  of 
mercy,  charity  or  necessity,  for  these  embody  the 
spirit  of  Christ  and  conserve  the  best  welfare  of 
all   concerned,   which  is   really   the    purpose    of 
worship. 


The  Application  of  the  Test.  277 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE  APPLICATION   OF   THE   TEST. 

Having  determined  upon  a  standard  by  which 
all  specific  acts  or  things  shall  be  judged  we  now 
will  apply  the  test  to  a  number  of  things  con- 
sidered wrong  by  well  meaning  people. 

The  Sunday  Newspaper 
The  first  of  the  so-called  objectionable  things 
that  we  shall  consider  is  the  Sunday  Newspaper. 
Before  applying  the  test,  it  is  necessary  to  con- 
sider the  essential  features,  the  facts,  and  the 
objections  concerning  the  Sunday  paper,  thus 
putting  ourselves  in  a  better  condition  to  make 
an  intelligent  application  of  the  standard  of 
judgment.  We  must  first  inquire  if  it  meets 
a  felt  want  in  the  community.  A  part  of  the 
community  claims  to  feel  the  loss,  at  least  they 
feel  the  break  in  the  news,  but  this  loss  is  not  a 
serious  objection.  It  may  be  answered  that  they 
ought  to  attend  Church.     But  if  they  do  not  go 


278    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabhath  and  Sunday. 

to  Church  no  law  can  compel  them  to  attend 
against  their  will.  We  have  to  accept  the  situa- 
tion as  we  find  it.  The  Church  must  not  forget 
that  if  the  people  referred  to,  do  not  worship,  the 
next  best  thing  to  be  done  is  to  use  all  legitimate 
agencies  that  have  a  tendency  to  elevate  or  help 
them. 

What  are  the  real  features  of  the  Sunday 
paper?  It  does  not  differ  materially  from  the 
daily  issue.  The  only  noticeably  different  fea- 
tures seem  to  be  the  increased  space  devoted  to 
advertisements,  stories,  fashions,  pictures,  and  gen- 
eral gossip.  Sermons  and  religious  editorials 
figure  now  more  prominently  than  ever  before. 
Symposiums  on  interesting  and  timely  topics  are 
another  feature  now  coming  into  vogue.  The 
great  objection  offered  by  a  majority  of  the  people 
opposed  to  the  Sunday  newspaper  is  that  it  con- 
tains too  much  matter  of  a  trashy  character. 
There  is  some  reason  for  this  accusation,  but 
upon  close  inspection  it  will  be  noticed  that 
matter  of  the  same  sort  is  found  in  nearly  all 
the  leading  dailies  published  on  other  days  of  the 
week.  The  Sunday  paper  is  similar  in  its  matter 
to  other  issues,  though  it  differs  in  the  amount 
of  some  kinds  of  matter.  If  it  is  true  that  there 
is  more  of  the  light  and  trifling  kind  in  the  Sun- 


The  Application  of  the   Test,  279 

day  issue,  it  is  equally  true  that  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  good  substantial  reading  in  most  of  the 
more  influential  dailies.  It  will  be  difficult  to 
get  an  ideal  paper.  A  newspaper  is  the  mirror  of 
the  people.  If  it  claims  to  give  the  news  to 
the  people,  it  must  give  bad  as  well  as  good. 
Some  like  one  kind  and  some  another  kind ;  and 
the  patronage  of  all  is  not  overlooked  by  the 
business  manager.  A  newspaper  is  made  up  to 
suit  all  classes.  No  one  has  as  yet  made  an  ideal 
paper  succeed.  Papers  are  started  chiefly  for  the 
revenue  that  may  be  obtained  from  them,  and  that 
policy  is  adopted  which  will  bring  the  most  revenue 
without  too  far  overstepping  the  bounds  of 
propriety. 

Another  objection  to  the  Sunday  newspaper  is 
that  it  compels  so  many  people  to  work  on  the 
Lord's  Day.  This  point  is  well  taken,  though 
under  present  circumstances  it  is  not  the  Sunday 
paper  that  calls  for  Sunday  work,  but  the  Monday 
paper.  However  if  the  Sunday  paper  were  dis- 
continued there  would  be  but  little  work  on 
Sunday ;  at  any  rate  each  workman  would  have  a 
day  of  rest  in  every  week.  Under  the  present 
system,  thousands  of  newsboys  are  obHged  to 
work  on  the  Lord's  Day.  Not  only  newsboys  but 
reporters,    compositors,    proof-readers,    operatives, 


280      Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

trainmen,  express  agents,  news  agents,  and  others, 
must  labor,  and  are  without  a  rest  day  during  the 
year,  with  possibly  the  exception  of  two  or  three 
weeks  as  a  midsummer  vacation. 

A  third  objection  is  that  it  keeps  many  away 
from  Church.  There  is  truth  also  in  this  objec- 
tion, but  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  all  who 
read  the  Sunday  paper  would,  if  none  were  pub- 
lished, go  to  Church.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
Canada  where  no  Sunday  paper  is  issued  on  the 
Lord's  Day,  the  Church  attendance  is  far  in 
advance  of  that  in  this  country.  This  is  not  all 
to  be  attributed  however  to  the  absence  of  the 
Sunday  paper,  but  it  certainly  counts  much  in 
effecting  such  desirable  conditions.  Probably  five 
per  cent  of  Church  attendance  would  cover  all 
who  are  kept  away  from  Church  by  reading  the 
Sunday  newspaper.  Yet  in  some  places  it  is  much 
larger,  for  reports  have  been  received  of  Churches 
in  some  towns  being  obliged  to  change  the  time  of 
service,  on  account  of  the  arrival  of  the  Sunday 
paper  at  the  same  hour. 

Christians  generally  do  not  feel  the  need  of  the 
Sunday  paper,  and  generally  do  not  take  it. 
They  use  the  day  for  religious  purposes.  Reli- 
gious papers  and  magazines  that  minister  to  their 
higher  nature,   sermons   and    books  of   a  helpful 


The  Application  of  the  Test.  281 

character,  constitute  the  reading  matter  of  the 
true  follower  of  Christ.  Only  that  is  sought 
which  will  aid  in  touching  and  quickening  the 
spiritual  nature.  A  very  delicate  question  arises 
at  this  juncture  of  our  discussion  and  that  is : 
Has  one  a  right  to  dictate  to  another  what  he 
shall  read  ?  All  have  rights  that  must  be  respected. 
The  only  pretext  for  interference  is  the  general 
effect  that  the  Sunday  paper  has  upon  the  com- 
munity. While  one  demands  liberty,  yet  his  Hb- 
erty  must  not  encroach  upon  the  liberties  of  others. 
If  it  interferes  in  any  way  with  the  object  of  the 
day  or  unfits  the  mind  for  the  proper  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  the  day,  then  there  is  occasion  for 
objection. 

One  more  consideration  must  be  borne  in  mind 
and  that  is  :  Would  the  non-Church  goer  be  w^orse 
off  if  he  had  no  Sunday  paper  to  take  up  his  time 
on  Sunday?  Would  the  reading  of  the  paper  be 
as  unwholesome  as  being  idle  all  day?  What 
would  be  the  effect  if  there  were  no  papers  read 
on  Sunday?  No  tangible  evidence  can  be  secured 
which  would  show  conclusively  that  the  people 
would  be  in  a  worse  condition.  The  Canadian 
cities,  where  there  are  no  papers  issued  on  Sun- 
day, present  a  finer  record  than  the  American 
cities  with  their  Sunday  paper.     No  newspapers 


282     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

are  published  in  Holland  on  the  rest  day  of  the 
Christian.  Edinburgh,  London,  and  all  English 
cities  do  not  allow  the  publication  of  the  Sunday 
Daily.  Two  in  London  tried  it  and  gave  it  up. 
It  is  singular  that  the  places  mentioned  above 
rank  among  the  highest  in  law,  order,  and  intelli- 
gence. If  such  cities  as  Toronto  and  Edinburgh, 
which  hold  such  a  high  place  in  culture  and  edu- 
cation, can  make  such  a  fine  showing  without  the 
Sunday  issue,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
other  cities  would  not  suffer  by  a  similar  arrange- 
ment, but  rather  be  benefited. 

Another  great  objection  to  the  Sunday  paper  is 
that  it  is  not  proper  Sunday  reading.  By  that  is 
meant  reading  that  will  build  one  up  in  morality 
and  spirituality.  The  religious  weekly  paper  con- 
tains the  reading  that  is  in  accord  with  the  pur- 
poses of  the  day,  and  is  at  present  the  only  paper 
adapted  to  Sunday  reading.  There  is  now  no 
paper  published  on  Sunday  that  is  designed  to 
answer  the  mission  of  the  Lord's  Day  or  to  elevate 
the  standard  of  society,  or  is,  in  any  way,  in  line 
with  the  work  and  teachings  of  those  who  are  en- 
gaged in  religious  endeavor  on  that  particular  day. 
The  paper,  if  allowed,  should  only  supplement  the 
work  of  all  the  various  organizations  that  labor  for 
the    upbuilding  of    society    on    Sunday.       If    the 


The  Application  of  the  Test.  283 

religious  weeklies  could  only  issue  their  papers  on 
Saturday  it  would  help  matters  somewhat. 

While  discussing  Sunday  legislation,  it  is  wise 
to  keep  in  mind  its  probable  enforcement.  If  a 
law  were  enacted  to  do  away  with  the  publication 
of  the  Sunday  newspapers  what  effect  would  it 
have  in  our  large  cities  ?  Considering  the  number 
of  influential  people  who  patronize  them,  and  the 
division  of  sentiment  among  the  people,  it  is  very 
certain  that  it  would  be  a  dead  law.  Under  the 
present  conditions  of  industrial  economy  and  the 
present  type  of  Christianity,  the  Sunday  news- 
paper in  some  modified  form  is  bound  to  stay. 
It  may  be  different  under  different  conditions. 
Changed  religious  conditions  will  no  doubt  bring 
about  a  healthy  change  in  the  customs  and  con- 
duct of  the  people.  These  conditions  are,  greater 
zeal,  more  light,  and  a  truer  imitation  of  the  Mas- 
ter in  mind  and  heart.  Formulated  creeds  must 
be  held  in  a  subordinate  position,  and  Christ  or 
the  Christ-spirit  substituted  in  their  place.  When 
all  can  practically  worship  as  one  Church  in  spirit, 
and  all  have  rightly-founded  views  of  the  Lord's 
Day,  then  much  may  be  expected. 

Not  only  changed  religious  conditions,  but 
changed  industrial  conditions  will  help  to  modify 
existinor    circumstances.     When    all    can   have  a 


284     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhaih  and  Sunday, 

comfortable  home,  with  music,  magazines,  reli- 
gious papers,  a  library  of  religious  books,  it  will 
furnish  sufficient  moral  and  spiritual  occupation, 
during  the  hours  of  the  Lord's  Day,  apart  from 
Church  worship.  Then  the  Sunday  Daily  will  not 
be  needed  nor  desired,  because  something  better 
has  been  substituted. 

Having  made  these  preliminary  observations 
and  noted  a  few  objections  usually  entertained  by 
the  Church  to  the  Sunday  newspaper  we  will  now 
enquire  what  is  the  final  solution.  The  only 
ground  on  which  we  may  condemn  any  act  on 
Sunday  that  is  permissible  on  other  days  of  the 
week,  is  its  relation  to  the  condition  of  divine 
worship.  Does  it  militate  against  the  proper  con- 
ditions for  religious  worship?  We  have  seen 
that  the  Sunday  paper  robs  hundreds  of  working 
people  of  the  privilege,  not  only  of  worship,  but 
of  a  day  of  rest ;  that  it  denies  to  hundreds  rest 
and  worship  in  the  transportation  of  the  paper; 
that  it  causes  thousands  of  newsboys  to  work 
when  they  should  be  at  Church  and  Sunday 
School.  As  a  consequence,  they  are  robbed  of 
that  moral  and  religious  training  which  all  need 
in  order  to  make  good  citizens.  In  the  city  of 
Boston  there  are  about  four  thousand  licensed 
newsboys.      Think    of   the    great   injustice    done 


The  Application  of  the  Test,  285 

them  in  preventing  their  attendance  at  places 
where  moral  and  religious  instruction  is  to  be 
obtained,  and  in  denying  their  youthful  natures  a 
day  of  rest.  In  the  next  place  the  incessant 
shouting,  unrestrained  yelling,  and  general  uproar 
of  the  newspaper  venders  on  a  Sunday  morning, 
is  certainly  disturbing  to  the  quiet  rest  of  the 
people  and  annoying  to  those  who  desire  suitable 
stillness  for  their  devotions. 

From  this  brief  re\dew  of  the  Sunday  paper  we 
must  conclude  that  it  very  decidedly  violates  the 
favorable  conditions  of  worship.  When  no  special 
need  is  felt  and  no  great  benefit  derived,  it  has 
no  just  claim  to  be  exempt  from  prohibition  by 
the  authorities.  It  cannot  be  gainsaid  that  the 
Sunday  paper  at  the  present  is  here  to  stay  in  a 
more  or  less  modified  form.  From  all  this  dis- 
cussion the  only  available  solution  is  to  first  seek 
to  change  the  time  of  its  publication  from  Sunday 
to  Saturday  evening.  The  paper  should  be  dis- 
tributed and  sold  on  Saturday  evening,  and  that 
would  hush  the  cries  of  thousands  of  newsboys  on 
Sunday  morning,  give  rest  to  hundreds  of  express 
agents  and  train  hands,  cause  less  running  of 
trains  and  would  leave  a  day  of  rest  for  worship 
for  news  agents,  compositors,  reporters,  editors  and 
managers.     This  is  the  method  that  is  followed  in 


286     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

Toronto  and  there  is  no  general  disposition  to  have 
it  otherwise.  With  the  evidence  at  hand  this  is 
the  only  adequate  solution  at  present.  The  next 
will  be  to  change  the  nature  of  the  paper  to  one 
more  religious  in  its  tone.  This  will  come  slower, 
as  the  people  will  have  to  undergo  a  change  spirit- 
ually to  demand  such  a  change.  However,  the 
Sunday  paper  is  comparatively  speaking  only  in 
its  infancy;  and  more  time  is,  no  doubt,  needed 
to  develop  thoroughly  all  its  features.  Possibly 
when  more  time  has  elapsed  so  that  the  results 
may  be  more  fairly  estimated,  a  new  and  better 
solution  may  be  presented.  But  this  is  the  only 
solution  at  present  that  the  evidence  will  justify. 

Sunday  Railroading, 

Sunday  traffic  on  railroads  has  a  very  important 
bearing  on  Sunday  observance  throughout  the 
country.  The  whistling,  puffing,  and  humming 
of  trains  certainly  disturbs  the  quiet  of  every 
railroad  town,  and  leads  to  many  forms  of  Sunday 
desecration.  The  influence  of  example  is  as  po- 
tent here  as  elsewhere,  and  tends  to  a  certain 
looseness.  When  we  think  of  200,000  miles  of 
railway  lines  operated  by  1,000,000  men,  touching 
almost  every  community  in  America,  we  immedi- 
ately perceive  its  far-reaching   influence.     While 


The  Application  of  the   Test.  287 

the  general  running  of  trains  is  to  be  regretted, 
yet  it  is  very  questionable  if  the  total  suspension 
of  trains  would  be  an  unqualified  good.  The 
amount  of  traffic  now  on  week  days  is  simply 
enormous ;  and  for  all  trains  to  be  held  off  might 
not  be  for  the  best  interests  of  society.  If  our 
lines  of  railroad  stretched  across  a  little  island 
like  Ireland  or  Cuba,  the  question  would  be  some- 
what altered ;  but  it  stretches  its  iron  fingers  over  a 
huge  continent  of  three  thousand  miles  in  length, 
ranging  between  the  equatorial  regions  on  the 
south  to  the  frigid  clime  of  the  north.  They  also 
have  intimate  relations  with  ocean  steamers  which 
leave  or  arrive  on  Sunday  or  at  times  closely  bor- 
dering on  that  day.  According  to  the  statements 
of  heads  of  railway  departments,  there  is  little 
or  nothing  gained  financially  by  most  roads,  and 
there  is  evidently  a  disposition  among  many  rail- 
road corporations  to  reduce  the  traffic  to  the 
lowest  practical  limit  on  the  Lord's  Day.  But 
the  pressure  of  business  men  who  demand  *'  de- 
spatch "  for  their  freight,  also  some  religious  socie- 
ties which  call  for  special  running  of  trains  to 
accommodate  their  meetings,  have  made  it  diffi- 
cult for  managers  of  railroads  to  carry  out  their 
wishes  in  the  matter.  To  them  there  is  no  alter- 
native, but  it  is  simply  a  matter  of  compulsion. 


288     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

Usually  shippers  and  consignees  are  not  willing 
to  allow  the  railroad  companies  an  extra  day  for 
rest  when  their  goods  are  being  handled.  If  the 
people  did  not  make  such  urgent  demands  upon 
the  railway  agents,  the  problem  of  Sunday  rail- 
roading would  no  doubt  settle  itself.  No  doubt, 
most  lines  could  dispense  with  Sunday  trains  ex- 
cept some  passenger  trains  on  trunk  lines.  Cases 
of  accidents,  sickness,  death,  disappointment  in 
train  connections,  matters  of  serious  interest, 
whether  civil,  pohtical,  or  financial,  necessitate 
Sunday  traffic  to  a  limited  extent  between  great 
centres  on  trunk  lines.  The  transit  of  mails  is 
an  important  consideration  also,  but  the  diffi- 
culties in  this  connection  could  be  obviated  by  a 
different  arrangement  with  the  United  States 
authorities.  Possibly  a  train  each  way  morning 
and  evening  on  through  lines  would  answer  the 
demands  of  the  people  so  far  as  passenger  service 
is  concerned.  The  Sunday  halt  with  freight  is 
not  as  serious  as  it  used  to  be.  Now  there  are 
refrigerator  cars  wherein  perishable  goods  are  not 
injured  to  any  appreciable  extent  by  an  extra  day 
of  rest.  Shipping  live  stock  presents  a  little  dif- 
ferent phase,  but  that  could  easily  be  remedied. 
It  would  be  better  for  all  parties  concerned  to 
rest  and   feed    the    stock   say  after   twenty-four 


The  Application  of  the  Test,  289 

hours  of  continuous  travel.     Beyond  this  the  So- 
ciety for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals 
would    have    a   pretext    for    interfering.      Some 
states  already  have  made  laws  to  the  effect  that 
live  stock  could  not  be  kept  on  the  train  for  more 
than    twenty-eight   hours    on   a  continuous  trip. 
The  only  way  in  which  loss  could  occur  by  rest- 
ing on  Sunday  would  be  in  case   of  immediate 
shipment   by   water   from   the    terminals.      This 
could  be  remedied  by  compelHng  steamship  com- 
panies to  depart  on  other  days  than  the  day  of 
the  Lord.     Some  companies  already,  of  their  own 
free  will,  have  adopted  a  rule  not  to  load  or  un- 
load cargoes  on  Sunday.     This  is  the  policy  of  the 
Cunard  line  of  steamers.      Even  if  they  arrive  on 
Sunday,  the  passengers  are  allowed  to  go  on  shore, 
but  all  work  of  unloading  is  entirely  suspended. 

Sunday  excursions,  beyond  local  significance, 
are,  generally  speaking,  harmful  to  the  interests  of 
society.  Sunday  is  not  a  holiday ;  it  has  greater 
significance.  There  are  many  other  days  provided 
expressly  for  holidaying.  Sunday  devoted  to  ex- 
cursioning  does  not  meet  a  felt  need,  and  perverts 
the  very  thing  that  the  day  aims  at.  Few,  if  any, 
are  better  fitted  for  work  on  Monday  morning  by 
indulging  in  the  dissipation  of  a  Sunday  excur- 
sion.    If  continually  persisted  in,  a  stolid  indif- 


290    Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

ference  to  the  highest    interest    of    man    results. 

Their  influence   does  not  tend  to  benefit  a  com- 
i 
munity. 

It  is  within  the  power  of  the  people  to  deter- 
mine, in  a  great  measure,  the  Sunday  observance 
of  railroad  corporations.  These  usually  provide 
what  the  people  demand,  and  leave  unprovided  that 
which  is  not  called  for.  Mr.  Hicky,  secretary  of 
the  International  Sabbath  Association,  who  has 
intimate  relations  with  many  railway  magnates, 
reports  them  as  not  even  uttering  a  word  of  dis- 
couragement concerning  the  discontinuance  of 
trains  on  Sunday  and  says,  "  If  only  the  people 
will  stop  demanding  of  us  Sunday  traffic  we  will 
gladly  see  that  no  wheel  shall  be  turned  on  Sun- 
day." ^  The  Vice-President  said  to  the  same 
gentleman :  "  We  want  every  wheel  stopped  on 
Sunday  for  financial  reasons."  ^  Another  stated 
"  We  should  save  one  quarter  of  our  expenses  by 
stopping  our  Sunday  trains."  Quoting  Mr.  Hicky 
again  he  says  :  "  The  great  obstacle  to  Sabbath 
observance  to-day  is  the  thoughtless  habits  of 
Christian  people  themselves.  Railroad  men  know 
this;  Col.  Scott  knows  this;  Mr.  Vanderbilt 
knows  it ;  Mr.  Jewett  knows  it ;  and  Mr.  Ganatt 
knows  it."  ^     No   railroad  is    run  on  Sunday  in 

1  Sabbath  Essays,  p.  420.        2  i^id.,  p.  419.      »  Ibid.,  420. 


The  Application  of  the   Test.  291 

Belgium  ;  and  in  Canada  all  local  service  is  sus- 
pended. It  is  readily  seen  that  such  a  condition 
of  things  depends  on  the  people  themselves.  The 
future  is  assured  when  the  people  are  instructed, 
'^then  will  follow  suitable  legislation.  When  the 
people  are  a  unit  regarding  any  truth  or  idea,  there 
will  then  be  little  difficulty  in  putting  it  on  the 
statute  books.  A  law  like  the  following  would  be 
wholesome  in  nearly  all  places.  No  running  of 
trains  on  the  Lord's  Day  between  sunrise  and  sun- 
set except  by  permission  of  the  railway  commis- 
sioners upon  application  by  railroad  authorities, 
but  no  permission  shall  be  granted  for  trains 
between  nine  o'cloc^  xV.m.  and  three  o'clock 
P.M.  The  above  is  not  to  interfere  with  a 
passenger  train  on  trunk  lines  each  way  morn- 
ing and  evening.  This  would  give  employees  on 
trains  that  must  run,  a  rest  of  at  least  six  hours 
at  the  time  of  religious  worship.  A  law  of  this 
kind  would  spare  the  churches  the  annoyance  of 
trains,  and  give  the  men  a  chance  to  improve  the 
benefits  of  Sunday  service. 

Sunday  Mails. 

The  mails  are  an  important  factor  in  the  busi- 
ness relations  of  our  country.  It  is  not  often  in 
the  life  of  a  business  man  that  he  must  have  his 


292     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

mail  on  Sunday  in  order  to  save  himself  from 
serious  loss.  There  may  be  a  few  cases,  but  com- 
paratively speaking  not  enough  to  warrant  the 
opening  of  all  the  offices.  When  things  of  special 
importance  need  attention,  more  direct  methods 
can  be  resorted  to,  such  as  the  telephone  and  tele- 
graph. If  mails  are  distributed  on  Sunday  it 
means  writing,  mailing,  thinking  on  business  mat^ 
ters,  worry  and  annoyance,  which  would  not  occur 
if  Sunday  mails  were  entirely  laid  aside.  This  is 
entirely  out  of  line  with  the  design  and  work  of 
the  worship  day  of  the  Christian  Church.  The 
gain  in  having  the  mail  on  Sunday  does  not  com- 
pare with  the  loss  it  entails.  News  agents,  ex- 
press agents,  train  clerks,  post  office  clerks  lose 
the  needed  rest  and  worship,  and  this  renders 
them  less  efficient.  The  first  year  of  Mr.  Harri- 
son's administration,  Mr.  Wanamaker,  the  Post- 
master General,  sent  to  one  hundred  of  the  largest 
Post  Offices  to  determine  the  relative  amount  of 
receipt  and  despatch  mail  on  Sunday  compared 
with  other  days.^  The  replies  showed  that  the 
sale  of  stamps  on  Sunday  was  comparatively  in- 
significant; that  the  callers  at  the  Post  Offices 
comprised  a  very  small  number  of  its  patrons ; 
and  that  the  letter-carriers'  work  was  practically 
1  The  Sunday  Problem,  p.  222. 


The  Application  of  the   Test,  293 

reduced  to  a  minimum,  deliveries  being  suspended 
and  the  work  confined  to  the  service  for  an  hour 
or  two  at  the  Post  Office  waiting  upon  callers.  It 
was  his  opinion  that  as  trains  carried  U.  S,  mail 
on  Sunday,  the  offices  would  have  to  open  a 
short  time  to  attend  to  them,  or  have  a  blockade 
which  would  have  a  serious  effect  on  business, 
and  thus  demoralize  the  mail  arrangements.  The 
great  city  of  London  allows  no  mail  on  Sunday. 
If  the  greatest  city  in  the  world  delivers  no  mail 
on  the  Lord's  Day,  smaller  cities  would  not  suffer 
appreciably  by  similar  action.  No  mail  work  is 
done  in  Ontario,  Canada,  on  Sunday.  If  that  rich 
and  thickly  settled  province  can  get  along  without 
Sunday  mails,  why  not  other  states  also  ? 

The  best  way  out  at  present  is  to  have  local 
option,  and  if  a  town  votes  to  close  the  office,  then 
let  the  Postmaster  General  close  it  and  call  for 
such  action  as  would  cancel  the  U.  S.  mail  on 
Sunday  for  that  particular  town  or  city. 

Amusements. 

A  student  of  the  history  of  Rome  can  scarcely 
fail  to  note  the  intimate  relation  between  amuse- 
ments and  its  downfall.  The  craze  for  amuse- 
ments gives  a  distaste  for  work,  enervates  the  vital 
energies,  creates  idleness,  vice,    immorality,    and 


294     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

dissoluteness.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  we  are 
seriously  affected  with  this  craze.  Many  are  not 
satisfied  with  six  days  in  the  week,  but  utilize  the 
seventh  also  for  the  prosecution  of  selfish  pleas- 
ures. Not  only  on  ordinary  days,  but  days  set 
apart  by  civil  authorities  or  by  custom  to  be  de- 
voted to  the  most  sacred  purposes,  are  ruthlessly 
trampled  upon,  as  much  as  paganism  ever  trampled 
upon  the  institution  of  Christianity.  Good  Fri- 
day, Day  of  Prayer,  Thanksgiving  Day,  and 
Christmas  Day  are  especially  religious  days  in 
which  people  are  called  to  devout  and  prayerful 
meditation.  But  sad  to  say  they  are  made  simply 
occasions  for  merry-making.  Little  respect  is 
shown,  in  some  quarters,  for  the  feeling  and  con- 
venience of  the  true  worshipper  of  God.  The 
Lord's  Day  is  made  a  seventh  picnic  day,  a  holi- 
day, in  fact,  a  sport's  day.  So  thoroughly  do 
many  devote  themselves  to  the  indulgence  of 
amusements  on  that  day,  that  Monday  must  be 
mostly  given  up  to  rest.  Baseball,  picnicking,  the- 
atres, hunting,  fishing,  boating,  excessive  bicycling, 
form  the  diversions  followed  by  many  throughout 

the  country. 

Baseball. 

Baseball    is  entirely  out  of  harmony  with  the 
nature  of  the  day.     The  original  purpose  was  to 


The  Application  of  the   Test,  295 

make  money  without  a  legitimate  demand  by  the 
best  people  for  such  a  pastime.  It  does  not  serve 
the  best  interests  of  the  people.  It  neither  in- 
structs, edifies  nor  ennobles.  It  interferes  with 
the  rest  and  quiet  of  religious  people  —  a  right 
they  are  entitled  to  —  and  draws  from  those  insti- 
tutions that  are  designed  to  elevate  the  people. 
Sunday  is  entitled  to  protection  from  public  spec- 
tacles that  interfere  with  those  conditions  which 
are  necessary  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  the 
duties  of  the  day.  When  the  youth  are  drawn 
away  from  places  where  they  can  receive  spiritual 
instruction,  the  day  has  been  lost  to  them,  and  their 
moral  nature  has  suffered  thereby.  The  Sunday 
School  where  special  moral  teaching  is  given,  is 
seriously  affected  by  the  attractive  power  of  the 
ball  game.  It  also  robs  the  players  and  officials 
of  a  day  of  rest  and  religious  culture,  and  the 
spectators  are  by  no  means  put  in  a  pious  mood 
by  the  exciting  fortunes  of  the  game.  The  game 
in  itself  must  not  only  be  considered,  but  the 
crowd  by  which  it  is  characterized.  Drinking, 
dissipation,  and  gambling  seem  to  be  indispensable 
adjuncts  of  this  form  of  Sunday  amusement,  with 
few  exceptions.  Anything  that  makes  an  open 
door  for  dissipation  comes  under  the  list  of  things 
that  ought  to  be  prohibited  by  the  civil  powers. 


296     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

Should  Sunday  ball  be  encouraged,  then  would 
follow  foot  ball,  horse  racing,  and  similar  pleasures 
until  the  day  would  lose  its  distinctive  features. 

Sunday  Golf, 

As  Sunday  golf  has  become  a  game  of  national 
interest,  a  few  words  here  would  not  be  out  of 
place.  This  form  of  amusement  is  not  attended 
with  the  same  objectionable  features  as  baseball, 
etc.,  at  least  not  to  the  same  degree.  The  game 
is  usually  removed  beyond  the  limits  of  the  town 
or  city,  where  but  few  are  attracted.  It  lacks  also 
that  disturbing  element  that  is  found  with  many 
other  public  games.  This  makes  the  question  more 
difficult  of  solution.  However  if  we  apply  our 
test  we  will  get  a  fair  conception  of  what  is  our 
duty.  Does  it  interfere  with  the  favorable  con- 
ditions of  worship?  In  the  first  place  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  those  who  participate  in  the  game  go  in 
groups  or  clubs,  purely  for  the  purpose  of  sport. 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  such  purpose  is  entirely 
out  of  sympathy  with  the  purposes  of  the  Lord's 
Day.  Now  when  we  consider  the  time  and  atten- 
tion spent  in  preparation,  in  dress  and  outfit,  for 
the  game,  preparation  for  travelling,  the  exciting 
interest  of  the  game,  and  the  consequent  fatigue, 
no  fair-minded  person  can  say  that  such  is  in  ac- 


The  Application  of  the   Test.  297 

cord  with  the  object  of  the  day.  Does  it  minister 
to  bodily  rest  ?  Does  it  develop  pious  thoughts  ? 
Does  it  lead  to  the  contemplation  of  man  —  his 
duty  and  destiny?  Does  it  stimulate  thoughts 
regarding  the  Author  of  all  and  our  relation  to 
Him?  The  answer  must  be  in  the  negative. 
It  certainly  unfits  the  minds  of  the  players  them- 
selves for  any  exercise  in  harmony  with  the  de- 
signs of  the  day.  What  influence  does  it  have 
upon  others?  If  it  were  allowed  other  sporting 
clubs  would  demand  recognition.  The  gun  club 
would  ask  for  the  privilege  of  hunting  and  target 
practicing  on  Sunday,  and  various  other  organiza- 
tions would  request  exemption  from  legal  dis- 
abilities for  their  particular  sport  on  the  Lord's 
Day.  This  would  set  in  motion  a  general  spirit 
of  dissipation  on  the  day  calculated  for  spiritual 

development. 

Sunday  Picnic, 

The  Sunday  picnic  in  a  public  form  must  be 
counted  out  of  the  legitimate  diversions  of  the 
Lord's  Day.  We  cannot  see  that  the  ordinary 
picnic  furnishes  rest  or  opportunity  for  divine 
contemplation.  Of  course  a  quiet  retreat,  or  a 
little  diversion  in  the  midst  of  nature,  is  helpful, 
and  not  out  of  harmony  with  the  object  of  the 
day,  but  picnics  of  a  large  number  of  people  in 


'298     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday/. 

the  midst  of  noise  and  confusion,  where  swings 
and  merry-go-rounds  are  in  full  blast,  cannot  be 
a  substitute  for  religious  exercises.  Sunday  is  a 
building  day.  The  structure  to  be  built  is  the 
temple  of  manhood.  This  great  work  is  done 
mainly  in  youth's  plastic  period.  And  as  Sunday 
is  the  day  specially  devoted  to  the  building  up  of 
the  moral  character,  a  picnic  would  take  the  youth 
and  children  out  of  reach  of  the  Church  and  other 
helpful  institutions.  This  form  of  exercise  is  not 
designed  to  edify,  but  to  provide  means  for  a 
general  good  time.  At  the  close  of  the  day  the 
energies  of  the  picnickers  are  completely  exhausted, 
without  any  gain.  In  such  cases  no  rest  is  gained 
for  the  body,  no  discipline  for  the  heart,  and  no 
spiritual  truth  for  the  soul;  the  mark  has  been 
completely  missed  and  the  day  lost.  One  cannot  in- 
dulge in  the  ordinary  Sunday  picnic  and  maintain 
a  proper  respect  for  Christ  and  his  resurrection. 

Sunday  Theatre. 

If  the  teachings  of  the  theatre,  too,  led  heaven- 
ward, there  would  be  some  consideration  for  its 
open  doors  on  the  Lord's  Day.  But  we  think  no 
one  who  is  informed  on  the  subject  will  risk  his 
reputation  in  making  the  statement  that  it  does 


The  Application  of  the  Test.  299 

lead  in  that  direction.  Then  those  who  are  con- 
nected with  such  an  enterprise,  need  a  day  off  in 
the  week,  and  Sunday  is  the  proper  day.  The 
interests  of  the  public  are  not  so  urgent  as  to  call 
them  to  forego  their  rest  at  least  on  that  particular 
day.  It  also  interferes  with  the  attendance  on 
religious  services  on  Sunday  evening.  When 
anything  militates  against  religious  services,  with 
no  other  object  than  to  furnish  amusement,  it 
certainly  is  out  of  place  on  the  Lord's  Day. 

Hunting  and  Fishing. 
Hunting  and  fishing  are  forms  of  amusement 
on  the  Lord's  Day  that  ought  to  be  discouraged. 
If  a  person  does  not  use  the  day  in  worship,  he 
ought  to  at  least  rest  completely  from  his  labor ; 
and  this  kind  of  pastime  is  not  a  form  of  rest  but 
rather  a  form  of  sport.  Example  is  wonderfully 
"catching"  regarding  this  kind  of  exercise.  It 
takes  men  from  places  of  nobler  influences  and 
leaves  them  worse  off  than  if  they  had  spent  the 
day  in  labor. 

Boating^  Bicycling  and  Riding. 
Boating,  bicycling,  and  riding  cannot  be    pro- 
hibited   by    law,    except   where    they   become    a 
nuisance  and  encroach  upon  the  rights  and  privi- 
leges of   Christian  people.     When   these  are   in- 


300     Seientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

dulged  in  for  pleasure  and  beyond  a  reasonable 
degree,  then  there  is  occasion  for  complaint. 
Where  the  bounds  of  propriety  are  overstepped  in 
this  regard,  they  might  be  limited  to  only  certain 
hours  of  the  day.  The  law  could  have  no  pre- 
rogative in  prohibiting  people  who  use  them 
within  certain  limits.  It  is  only  when  these  be- 
come annoying  that  it  can  be  a  subject  of  law. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  state  what  are  the  limits  of 
propriety  ;  more  time  is  needed  to  ascertain 
more  fully  the  effects.  The  use  of  the  bicycle  in 
club  runs,  etc.,  militates  seriously  against  Church 
attendance  in  most  places,  which  is  not  a  hopeful 
sign  for  a  better  condition  of  things  for  the  future. 
Boating  for  recreation  should  be  limited  to  cer- 
tain hours  in  the  afternoon.  Riding  for  pleasure 
in  carriages  on  Sunday  does  not  seem  to  be 
attended  with  such  evils  that  legislation  is  neces- 
sary. Somehow  the  influence  of  example  is  not 
seen  here  as  in  the  bicycle. 

Sunday  Cars. 

Street  cars  naturally  fall  in  the  line  of  this 
discussion.  Very  few  will  deny  they  are  a  public 
necessity.  Toronto  has  bravely  maintained  the 
"  no  cars  on  Sunday,"  but  a  recent  vote  of  the 
people  showed  that  the  sentiment  had  turned  and 


The  Application  of  the  Test.  301 

now  the  lines  are  in  operation  every  day  of  the 
week.  Many  churches  in  a  city  like  Boston, 
would  have  to  close  up,  were  it  not  for  the  street 
cars.  As  the  cars  are  a  means  of  conveyance  the 
needs  of  the  public  demand  them  and  the  welfare 
of  the  public  is  subserved. 

Nothing  should  be  allowed  as  a  pastime  that 
does  not  tend  to  self  improvement,  education, 
along  moral  and  religious  lines,  but  great  caution 
must  be  used  to  avoid  being  Puritanical  in  mak- 
ing and  enforcing  Sunday  laws.  A  too  rigid 
course  is  likely  to  antagonize  those  that  Christi- 
anity is  seeking  to  win.  Let  such  be  a  last 
resort.  The  chief  aim  should  be  to  give  life  to 
the  community  in  its  moral  aspect  and  the  other 
things  will  fit  in  with  comparative  ease.  Instances 
are  on  record  where  there  has  been  strict  Sabbath 
keeping,  and  at  the  same  time  moral  rottenness  has 
abounded  to  an  alarming  degree.  On  the  other 
hand  it  is  not  wise  to  be  imposed  upon  too  much 
by  Sunday  desecrators.  Christians  have  rights 
and  feelings  that  ought  to  be  respected.  The 
reckless  Sunday  destructionist  that  cares  neither 
for  the  feeling  of  Christians,  laws,  nor  the  many 
sacred  institutions,  ought  to  be  treated  with  a 
judicious  rebuke  that  will  impress  him  that  others 
have  rights  that  must  not  be  ignored. 


802     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

The  institution  of  the  Lord's  Day  ought  to  be 
protected,  as  it  is  a  day  for  the  improvement  of 
the  conduct  and  life  of  mankind. 

Everything  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  allow 

people  to  attend  Church  for  moral  instruction  and 

spiritual  help.     No  attraction  should  be  allowed 

that  would  have  a  tendency  to  draw  the  people 

from  where  they  can  get  this  spiritual  culture,  and 

nothing  should  be  permitted  to  be  done  that  would 

disturb   them   while    they   are    engaged   in    that 

exercise. 

So  Called  Things  of  Necessity. 

Much  is  made  of  "  things  of  necessity  "  in  some 
quarters  and  by  some  writers.  With  them,  that 
by  which  a  dollar  can  be  made  on  Sunday,  is 
considered  a  necessity.  This  is  sometimes  re- 
sorted to  by  those  who  are  specially  engaged,  for 
instance,  in  the  strawberry  business.  We  mention 
this  business  because  it  best  represents  garden 
produce  as  a  class :  High  prices  are  given  early 
on  Monday  morning,  and  those  in  the  business 
who  pick  and  ship  their  produce  on  Sunday  have 
the  advantage  of  the  high  prices.  Successful  pro- 
ducers however  have  said  that  taking  one  year 
with  another  they  have  lost  nothing  by  resting 
one  day  in  the  week. 

In  haying   and  harvest   time   many  work   on 


The  Application  of  the  Test.  303 

Sunday  without  any  scruples,  claiming  that  a 
great  loss  is  probable  if  it  is  not  done.  Experi- 
enced and  successful  farmers  of  high  moral  char- 
acter are  almost  unanimously  in  favor  of  keeping 
the  Lord's  Day,  rain  or  shine.  There  was  never 
a  rain  which  was  not  followed  by  sunshine  after 
it  to  dry  up  the  dampness.  Very  seldom  does 
there  a  case  arise  where  permanent  injury  is  done 
if  foresight  is  used.  Example  in  this  matter 
counts  for  a  great  deal.  If  one  can  work  on 
Sunday  then  all  have  the  same  right,  and  when 
one  kind  of  work  is  done,  it  mil  extend  to  all 
kinds  and  then  general  lawlessness  will  prevail, 
and  all  will  suffer. 

If  all  worked  on  Sunday  when  they  saw  an 
opportunity  of  a  little  gain,  we  soon  would  be 
without  a  day  of  rest.  The  workingman,  the 
manufacturer,  the  professional  man  and  all  others 
ought  to  forego  what  little  gold  might  be  gained 
in  a  day,  for  the  greater  good  to  themselves  and 
the  community.  The  true  citizen  will  sacrifice  a 
Httle  material  wealth  for  the  sake  of  moral  worth 
and  spiritual  power. 

Things  Permissible  on  Sunday. 

We  have  indicated  certain  things  that  are  not 
consistent  with  the  purposes   of  the  Lord's   Day 


304     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

and  will  point  out  now  a  few  things  that  are  per- 
missible. A  full  list  of  all  that  may  with  pro- 
priety be  indulged  in  on  Sunday,  would  be 
wearisome  and  call  for  more  space  than  its  im- 
portance demands,  but  some  things  will  be  giren 
to  indicate  the  general  features  of  legitimate 
Sunday  occupation. 

In  touching  this  aspect  of  the  subject,  care 
must  be  taken  as  to  what  is  the  dominant  spirit 
of  the  times.  A  great  change  has  set  in  within 
recent  times.  New  industrial  conditions,  where 
the  instruments  of  production  are  controlled  by 
the  few,  where  machinery  has  displaced  hand 
labor,  where  the  keen  competition  of  corporations 
has  produced  over-vrorked  and  under-paid  work- 
men, have  altered  the  method  of  Sunday  observance 
inside  as  well  as  outside  of  the  Christian  Church. 
The  close  confinement  within  the  factory  walls, 
the  clatter  and  hum  of  machinery,  the  rush  and 
hustle  of  business,  and  the  pressure  of  manifold 
duties,  put  such  a  strain  upon  the  nerves  that 
complete  relaxation  on  Sunday  is  demanded.  On 
account  of  the  economic  situation  some  use  it  as  a 
sleeping  day,  some  a  rest  day,  some  a  reading  day, 
some  a  recreation  day,  and  some  a  visiting  day. 
But  this  does  not  militate  against  the  spirit  of  our 
worship  day,  for  the   duties   of  the   day  include 


The  Application  of  the   Test.  305 

among  other  things  rest,  reading,  and  recreation.  ^ 
Those  special  acts  that  minister  to  the  greatest 
needs  of  the  body  comport  with  the  object  of  the 
Lord's  Day.  The  danger  lies  in  looking  on  the 
material  side  and  forgetting  entirely  the  spiritual 
side  of  our  nature.  However  for  those  who  do  not 
worship,  provision  must  be  made  to  accomplish 
as  much  as  possible  that  which  worship  aims  at  — 
an  ideal  character.  There  are  many  legitimate 
forms  of  recreation  on  Sunday  that  are  refreshing, 
instructive,  ennobling,  and  inspiring. 

Libraries  and  reading  rooms  in  large  centres 
ought  to  be  open  to  the  public  on  Sunday  after- 
noon. In  them  is  contained  the  learning  and 
light  of  all  former  ages.  The  wisdom  of  saints, 
scientists,  and  philosophers,  can  be  had  for  the 
taking.  Here  contact  is  found  with  the  greatest 
and  noblest  of  mankind,  the  influence  of  which 
cannot  but  quicken  the  intellect  and  mould  the 
soul  in  the  image  of  its  ideal.  This  certainly  is 
in  accord  with  the  practical  results  of  the  ideal 
Lord's  Day. 

The  doors  of  art  galleries  should  be  free  to 
all  for  a  few  hours  on  the  Lord's  Day.  The 
refining  influence  of  the  objects  of  beauty,  the 
pleasure  and  joy  in  their  contemplation,  the  en- 
nobling effect  of  ideals,  must  contribute  largely  to 


306     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday, 

the  soul  growth  after  the  model  of  the  perfect 
man.  Who  can  estimate  the  influence  for  good 
of  an  art  museum  whose  patrons  on  a  Sunday 
afternoon  number  about  four  or  five  thousand? 

Sunday  is  a  day  for  lectures  bearing  on  ques- 
tions vitally  connected  with  life  in  its  various 
forms ;  and  those  which  stir  the  mind  with  help- 
ful truths  and  fit  it  better  for  living,  have  a 
legitimate  place  on  Sunday. 

Stereopticon  views  for  the  purpose  of  instruc- 
tion or  for  giving  the  soul  religious,  ethical,  or 
patriotic  feelings,  are  entitled  to  a  fit  place  on  the 
worship-day  of  Christendom. 

Sacred  concerts,  and  band  concerts  conducted 
within  the  limits  of  propriety,  have  a  mission  in 
the  culture  of  the  soul.  Music  cheers,  inspires, 
brightens,  and  fosters  new  life  and  strength  for 
the  conflicts  and  struggle  in  life.  It  is  divine 
and  anything  that  points  in  that  direction  har- 
monizes with  the  spirit  and  nature  of  the  resur- 
rection-day of  Christ. 

Public  meetings  to  promote  those  reforms  that 
touch  the  moral  and  rehgious  life  of  the  people, 
are  within  the  limits  of  the  proper  uses  of  the 
Lord's  Day. 

Parks,  public  gardens,  and  picnic  grounds 
should  not  be  closed  to  those  who  wish  to  avail 


The  Application  of  the  Test.  307 

themselves  of  the  scenes  of  nature.  Those  who, 
tied  down  to  hard  work  the  whole  week,  go  out  on 
Sunday  into  the  midst  of  nature  with  its  sunlight 
and  fresh  air,  must  certainly  be  fitted  better  there- 
by for  the  coming  week's  work,  and  this  is  not  in- 
consistent with  the  object  sought  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week. 

A  short  drive  on  Sunday  afternoon  is  a  form 
of  recreation  which  is  re-creating.  The  effect  of 
such  is  healthful  and  refreshing  and  aids  in  bring- 
ing the  body  up  to  the  highest  efficiency  for  ser- 
vice and  duty. 

A  short  run  on  the  bicycle  might  not  be  out  of 
place  on  Sunday  if  the  example  did  not  affect 
injuriously  anyone  else.  But  somehow  it  does, 
and  those  that  copy  spend  the  whole  day,  instead 
of  an  hour  or  two.  The  bicycle  craze  is  becoming 
a  source  of  much  complaint  from  many  parts 
of  the  country.  It  empties  churches,  Sunday 
Schools,  libraries,  and  art  rooms,  with  no  corre- 
sponding gain.  In  time  to  come  when  the  evils 
of  the  craze  assert  itself  more  conspicuously, 
there  will  then  be  occasion  to  make  a  law  limiting 
the  use  of  the  bicycle  for  pleasure  to  certain  hours 
of  the  day.  Christians  who  make  public  senti- 
ment regarding  the  Lord's  Day,  and  the  conserva- 
tors of  its  observance,   should  be  careful  as  to 


308     Scientific  Basis  of  Sdbhath  and  Sunday. 

whether  their  example  in  bicycle  riding  would  be 
productive  of  more  harm  than  good. 

In  the  industrial  line  some  things,  according  to 
our  standard  are  also  permissible.  The  bakery 
must  be  allowed  open  doors  for  a  couple  of  hours 
for  business  on  Sunday  morning.  The  necessity 
arises  in  large  cities  where  many  eat,  sleep,  and 
live  in  one  room,  for  in  such  crowded  quarters 
there  is  neither  room  for,  nor  the  proper  means  for 
preserving  the  various  articles  of  food.  If  all 
had  wealth,  beautiful  homes,  complete  supply  of 
cooking  utensils,  servants,  etc.,  the  open  bakery 
would  be  uncalled  for,  but  our  present  conditions 
demand  its  presence.  It  is  a  necessity  of  the 
people  and  it  does  not  interfere  either  with  the 
duty  or  the  spirit  of  worship. 

Street  cars,  steam  cars,  steamboats,  and  all 
other  means  of  public  conveyance  must  be  in 
operation  to  a  limited  extent  on  Sunday  to  supply 
the  rightful  demand  of  the  public  for  locomo- 
tion from  one  place  to  another.  It  is  perfectly 
in  accord  with  the  object  of  the  Lord's  Day  and 
meets  a  legitimate  need  of  the  public. 


Bight  of  the  State  to  Make  Sunday  Laws.  309 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

EIGHT   OF   THE   STATE   TO  MAKE   SUNDAY    LAWS. 

Is  the  state  exceeding  its  prerogative  when  it 
attempts  to  make  Sunday  laws  ?  Has  the  state 
the  right  to  make  legal  enactments  bearing  on 
Sunday  conduct  when  the  Church  and  state  are 
entirely  independent  bodies  ?  This  kind  of  legis- 
lation has  raised  strong  protests  from  some  well 
meaning  people.  The  claim  is  made  that  the  lib- 
erties guaranteed  by  the  Constitution  are  violated, 
and  indignation  is  expressed  by  the  epithets 
*'  tyranny,"  "  bigotry,"  *'  interference  with  individ- 
ual rights,"  etc.  The  state,  it  is  said,  has  ex- 
ceeded its  legitimate  bounds  when  it  endeavors  to 
make  men  religious.  It  is  asserted  that  the  state 
has  transgressed  the  limits  fixed  upon  by  the 
federal  constitution.  Anti-sabbatarian  conven- 
tions claiming  the  above  conceptions  have  been 
held  in  our  country,  and  have  been  supported  by 
men  carrying  great  weight  in  political  and  legal 
matters.     In  1858  the  chief  justice  of  the  supreme 


310     Scientific  Basis  of  Sdbhath  and  Sunday. 

court  of  California  ruled  that  Sunday  laws  were 
unconstitutional.  Two  years  later  this  verdict 
was  reversed  and  the  validity  of  Sunday  laws  was 
established. 

The  anti-sabbatarians  are  quite  persistent  in 
emphasizing  the  idea  that, as  the  Church  in  Amer- 
ica is  separated  from  the  state,  the  state  cannot 
therefore  force  church  laws  or  religious  ideas 
upon  a  people  under  such  a  government.  It  is 
necessary,  however,  to  look  at  the  prerogatives 
that  are  rightfully  possessed  by  the  state,  and  then 
apply  them  to  the  Sunday  laws. 

The  state  must  guarantee  to  all  (1)  the  protec- 
tion of  life  and  property,  (2)  the  enjoyment  of 
equal  rights.  The  liberty  of  one  must  not  en- 
croach upon  the  liberty  of  another.  (3)  The 
state  has  the  right  to  legislate  in  the  interest  of  a 
majority  of  the  people  in  sentiments,  feelings, 
and  national  customs,  provided  they  do  not  take 
away  the  rights  given  by  the  constitution.  (4) 
The  state  has  the  acknowledged  right  to  deter- 
mine ways  and  means  for  the  public  improvement. 
The  compulsory  education  of  every  child,  whether 
rich  or  poor,  without  money  or  price,  is  recognized 
as  one  of  the  most  important  duties  of  the  state. 
Public  libraries  supported  by  state  or  municipal 
authorities  are  endorsed  by  all.     Art  museums  at 


Right  of  the  State  to  Make  Sunday  Laws,  311 

the  expense  of  the  people  in  their  corporate  capa- 
city are  approved  by  all  good  citizens.  Here  is 
recognized  the  cultivation  of  the  sesthetical  fac- 
ulty brought  about  through  the  instrumentality 
of  law.  (5)  The  state  must  look  to  its  own 
future  life,  and  therefore  must  institute  methods 
or  laws  that  will  have  the  tendency  to  conserve 
its  own  existence.  Children  that  give  evidence 
of  becoming  a  source  of  trouble  to  the  state 
must  be  sent  to  the  reform  school.  The  mainte- 
nance of  an  army  and  navy  in  a  time  of  peace, 
also  emigration  laws  are  measures  that  look  to  the 
future  weKare  of  the  state. 

Let  us  therefore  inquire  what  claims  Sunday 
has  that  the  state  is  bound  to  respect.  We  said 
the  state  could  not  ignore  the  constituent  elements 
of  life  among  the  people  thus  organized.  In  our 
country  many  years  ago  a  national  organization 
was  effected  by  a  people  of  certain  religious  cus- 
toms and  habits,  and  one  of  these  customs  was 
the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day.  It  was  an 
essential  factor  in  the  life  of  the  people,  and  was 
deeply  imbedded  in  their  minds  and  hearts.  Now 
states  are  only  peoples  organized  under  certain 
acknowledged  methods  of  procedure.  The  laws 
will  take  color  from  the  life  and  opinions  of  the 
people  in  such  a  corporation.     Whatever  the  sen- 


312    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

timents  of  the  great  majority  are,those  usually  are 
incorporated  into  their  legal  code.  If  their  sen- 
timents are  not  put  into  the  legal  system,  they  are 
protected  and  guarded  so  as  not  to  be  imposed 
upon.  This,  then,  was  a  very  natural  thing  to  do 
to  recognize  by  law  the  Lord's  Day,  which  seemed 
inseparable  from  the  people's  life,  and  was  a  prime 
characteristic  of  Christian  civilization. 

The  second  great  claim  the  Lord's  Day  has 
upon  the  state  is  the  weekly  rest  day  for  the 
workingman.  This  is  an  age  of  fire,  steam  and 
lightning.  The  pressure  upon  the  nervous  sys- 
tem of  those  in  the  business  arena  is  tremendous. 
Nightly  rest  and  even  weekly  rest  is  scarcely 
enough  for  the  overworked  ;  however,  one  day  off 
in  the  week  relieves  the  situation  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, and  untold  blessings  follow  in  its  train.  In 
these  times  a  weekly  day  is  needed  to  relax  the 
strain  upon  the  mind  and  muscle.  Continuous 
work  day  by  day,  without  a  break  is  brutalizing, 
exhausting,  and  destructive  to  muscle,  mind,  and 
manhood.  It  weakens  the  hand,  dulls  the  head, 
and  chills  the  feelings  of  the  heart.  To  kill  off  a 
people,  it  is  only  necessary  to  work  them  inces- 
santly or  have  them  play  incessantly.  History  has 
shown  that  either  will  accomplish  the  end.  To 
save  the  nation,  then,  a  seventh  rest  day  for  spirit- 


Right  of  the  State  to  Make  Sunday  Laws.  313 

ual  purposes  as  well  as  for  bodily  rest  must  at 
least  be  granted  and  observed. 

Greed  of  most  corporations  would  compel  men 
to  work  all  the  time  were  it  not  for  the  laws  the 
people  enact.  They  are  unable  to  fight  the  cor- 
porations, and  are  therefore  at  their  mercy.  It  is 
the  business  of  the  state,  in  a  matter  of  this  kind, 
to  proteCjt  the  working  man  and  allow  him  his 
rights.  The  state  is  then  justified  in  making  for 
the  laboring  man  one  day  of  rest  in  seven. 

In  the  third  place  Sunday  has  a  claim  upon  the 
state  on  account  of  the  social  side  of  life.  A  day 
of  complete  cessation  of  labor  is  needed  for  the 
opportunity  of  social  cultivation.  Sunday  is  also 
a  family  day.  The  family  is  the  basis  of  the  state, 
and  what  affects  the  family  affects  all.  The  pres- 
ervation of  the  family  is  the  greatest  concern  of 
the  state.  Sunday  affords  an  opportunity  to  cul- 
tivate the  relations  that  exist  between  the  members 
of  the  family  circle.  At  present  the  workman 
leaves  home  at  the  break  of  day  and  arrives  back 
at  its  close  scarcely  seeing  his  own  children  during 
the  light  of  day.  Sunday,  then,  is  the  only  time 
he  has  to  cultivate  the  tender  relations  he  holds  to 
his  children,  and  give  to  them  the  care,  counsel, 
devotion,  and  love  that  is  demanded  of  the  father. 
As  we  have  social  natures,  they  crave  for  proper 


314    Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

exercise.  It  is  certainly  helpful  for  members  of  a 
community  to  meet  together,  to  visit  each  other, 
exchange  courtesies,  learn  of  one  another's  wel- 
fare, enter  into  one  another's  sympathies,  and  pro- 
mote good  feelings  and  well  being  in  general.  If 
there  were  incessant  toil,  no  opportunity  would  be 
given  to  meet  in  society,  consequently  the  finer 
feeUngs  of  society  or  humanity  would  die  out  for 
the  want  of  proper  cultivation.  In  such  a  condi- 
tion men  would  become  coarse,  brutal,  and  stupid. 
In  the  fourth  place  the  state  is  in  duty  bound 
to  legislate  in  favor  of  Sunday  rest  in  considera- 
tion of  its  moral  effect  upon  the  community.  It 
is  a  day  in  the  week  in  which  moral  truth  and 
ideas  are  taught  in  Churches,  Sunday  Schools, 
young  people's  meetings,  prayer  meetings,  etc. 
On  that  day  the  duties  to  the  state,  to  one  another, 
and  to  God,  also  the  principles  of  moral  conduct 
are  outlined  and  impressed  upon  all.  Young  and 
old  are  brought  under  the  range  of  moral  and 
religious  truths.  No  other  institution  has  a 
greater  moral  influence  upon  the  people  than  that 
of  the  resurrection  day  of  Christ.  Its  moral 
effect  is  recognized  by  all  legislators  by  the  com- 
plete exemption  of  the  Chui^ch  from  taxation. 
Another  notable  instance  of  this  recognition  is 
seen  in  the  U.  S.  Army    and    Navy.      Article  52 


Right  of  the  State  to  Make  Sunday  Laws.  315 

of  the  Army  regulations  reads,  "It  is  earnestly 
recommended  to  all  officers  and  soldiers  to  attend 
to  divine  service.  Any  officer  who  behaves  in- 
decently or  irreverently  at  any  place  of  divine 
vrorship  shall  be  brought  before  a  general  court- 
martial,  there  to  be  severely  reprimanded  by 
the  President  himself."  The  Navy  regulations  in 
Article  843  are,  "  Sunday  must  be  observed  on 
board  of  all  vessels  of  the  Navy  and  all  stations 
and  navy  yards  in  an  orderly  manner  by  officers 
and  men.  All  labor  or  duty  will  be  reduced  to 
the  measure  of  strict  necessity.  The  religious  ten- 
dencies of  officers  and  men  are  to  be  encouraged 
and  suitable  times  and  places  be  assigned  to 
divine  worship."  The  law  for  Cadets  is  even 
stricter,  as  seen  from  Article  125  :  "  It  is  ear- 
nestly recommended  to  all  officers  of  the  Academy, 
and  to  all  Cadets,  diligently  to  attend  to  di^dne 
service  appointed  on  Sunday,  unless  excused  from 
such  attendance  upon  their  declaration  that  they 
cannot  conscientiously  attend.  The  Cadets  will 
in  like  manner  be  excused  who  make  a  similar 
declaration  with  the  written  approval  of  their 
parents  and  guardians,  such  approval  having  been 
obtained  by  application  through  the  Superinten- 
dent." 

Finally,  Sunday  has  a  claim  upon  the  state  for 


316     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

protection  on  account  of  its  influence  in  preserv- 
ing and  maintaining  those  factors  that  are  essen- 
tial to  the  existence  of  the  state.  Religion  and 
a  special  day  for  its  exercise,  have  an  exceedingly 
vital  relation  to  the  nation's  stability  and  per- 
petuity. History  has  abundantly  shown  how  puri- 
fied religion  unites  and  strengthens  the  ties  between 
individual  members  composing  the  nation,  also  it 
purifies,  elevates,  and  makes  powerful  the  nation 
itself.  The  most  prominent  factor  calculated  to 
insure  the  future  existence  of  the  state  is  this 
special  day  for  religious  worship,  which,  if  left  out 
must  have  a  serious  effect  upon  the  bonds  of  any 
political  organization. 

In  making  Sunday  laws  the  state  is  not  com- 
pelling men  to  be  religious,  but  rather  producing 
favorable  conditions  where  the  right  of  worship 
may  be  freely  exercised.  People  of  religious 
convictions  have  a  right  to  be  protected  in  the 
exercise  of  this  duty  from  the  encroachments, 
impositions,  and  abuse  of  others,  but  this  pro- 
tection is  not  designed  to  make  people  religious 
by  law. 


Appeal  for  Concerted  Action.  317 


CHAPTER   XV. 

APPEAL  FOR    CONCERTED   ACTION. 

Concerning  Saturdarians. 

None  can  fail  to  admire  the  zeal  for  the  Sabbath 
shown  by  the  denominations  represented  in  the 
above  heading.  Indeed  they  far  outstrip  the  Jews 
to  whom  the  day  was  first  given.  Nothing  shall 
be  said  here  against  any  follower  of  God  or  Chris- 
tian denomination,  that  is  sincerely  striving  to 
serve  the  Master  as  they  understand  what  that 
service  demands,  and  whatever  thoughts  are  pre- 
sented concerning  them  is  not  in  the  spirit  of  an- 
tagonism or  censure,  but  rather  in  the  spirit  of 
love  for  the  sake  of  light  and  truth. 

Great  emphasis,  with  these  denominations,  is 
placed  upon  the  observance  of  the  commandments 
of  God.  There  seems  to  be  a  vague  idea  among 
these  people  that  all  the  commandments  in  the 
Bible  must  be  obeyed,  at  least  their  words  seem 
to  convey  that  idea.  This  is  a  serious  mistake. 
A  majority  of  the  commandments  were  given  to 


318     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

people  under  certain  conditions,  and  could  not 
under  present  circumstances  be  obeyed  by  us. 
The  Old  Testament  says,  "  kill  the  witches,"  also, 
"  If  thou  buy  a  Hebrew  servant  six  years  shall  he 
serve."  Here  these  texts  plainly  command  kill- 
ing and  slavery.  The  law  of  revenge  is  taught  in 
"an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth." 
These  are  some  of  the  moral  commandments  of 
the  Old  Testament  named  to  show  that  we  cannot 
consistently  obey  them.  The  same  thing  occurs 
in  the  New  Testament  writings.  In  the  letters 
of  Paul  we  have  the  command,  "  Salute  all  the 
brethren  with  a  holy  kiss,"  and  Christ  says  :  "  Sell 
all  you  have  and  give  to  the  poor."  These  would 
now  be  considered  out  of  place,  and  in  the  latter 
case  would  work  economic  ruin.  But  we  are  told 
that  these  commandments  are  not  engraven  in 
stone.  We  have  seen  from  a  former  chapter  that 
the  decalogue  could  not  claim  special  rank,  for 
one  of  the  three  different  decalogues  says :  "  The 
feast  of  weeks  thou  shalt  observe. ' '  Some  command- 
ments were  written  on  stone,  but  this  gives  them 
no  more  authority  than  if  they  were  written  on 
parchment.  The  essential  thing  is  were  they  given 
by  God?  Each  commandment  must  be  taken  on 
its  own  merits.  Those  which  are  in  accord  with 
the  teachings  and  spirit  of  Christ  are  binding  upon 


Appeal  for  Concerted  Action.  319 

us.  If  what  has  been  said  previous  to  this  on  the 
different  commands  of  the  decalogue  is  true,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  about  what  is  binding  and  what 
is  not. 

Christ  gave  the  Jewish  Sabbath  a  fatal  blow 
when  he  said,  "  My  Father  worketh  hitherto  and  I 
work."  Here  at  one  sweep  he  has  taken  away 
the  motive  of  keeping  the  Sabbath,  which  is  the 
example  of  God.  It  does  not  seem  consistent  to 
rest  on  the  Sabbath  after  this,  for  the  reason  that 
God  does  not  himself  rest.  And  if  he  does  not 
himself  rest  how  can  he  expect  us  to  rest?  Christ 
evidently  wanted  to  do  away  with  it,  and  this  was 
the  first  fatal  thrust. 

Passing  now  from  the  words  of  Christ  we  come 
first  to  the  Council  of  the  disciples  at  Jerusalem. 
This  Council  only  required  four  things  to  be  ob- 
served, leaving  out  entirely  the  Sabbath.  Paul 
certainly  did  not  regard  the  Sabbath  as  obligatory. 
He  represents  the  law  as  a  schoolmaster  to  lead  to 
Christ,  a  shadow  of  things  to  come,  and  an  old 
covenant.  We  are  also  told  that  we  are  under  a 
new  covenant.  The  old  covenant  is  done  away 
with;  he  states  the  contents  of  it— the  tables  of 
stone  being  among  them.  Without  any  equivo- 
cation Paul  says  we  are  ''dead  to  the  Law," 
** redeemed   from  the  law,"   ''delivered   from  the 


320     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

law,"  and  "not  under  the  law."  No  amount  of 
word  mongering  can  so  twist  these  simple  and 
plain  words  as  to  give  any  other  meaning  than 
that  the  whole  Mosaic  law  is  abolished,  nailed  to 
the  cross,  and  only  those  moral  precepts  are  bind- 
ing that  are  in  line  with  the  Gospel. 

It  seems  folly  to  think  that  the  seventh  day 
of  the  week  has  been  the  identical  seventh  day 
from  creation  down.  It  must  not  be  supposed 
that  the  Seventh  Day  worship  was  handed  down 
in  regular  succession  from  the  creation  of  man. 
From  recent  finds  in  Babylonia,  it  is  discovered 
that  the  early  inhabitants  of  this  country  existed 
at  least  7,000  years  before  Christ.  This  is  the 
oldest  people  that  we  have  any  authentic  record 
of,  and  beyond  that  it  is  a  blank.  No  record  has 
been  kept  to  show  us  how  long  a  time  elapsed 
between  creation  and  the  beginning  of  Baby- 
lonian reckoning.  Now  these  people  must  have 
been  the  custodians  of  whatever  sacred  institu- 
tions existed  prior  to  this  historic  period.  It 
must  be  through  them  that  successive  weeks 
must  be  traced.  Now  this  early  Babylonian  week 
was  a  lunar  week,  and  their  seventh  day  was  the 
seventh  day  of  the  moon  and  not  identical  with 
the  seventh  day  of  our  week.  The  first  day  of 
their  week   was  Saturday  and    the  seventh    was 


Appeal  for  Concerted  Action,  321 

Friday.  In  India  where  the  week  was  established 
at  a  very  early  time,  the  weeks  were  lunar,  and 
the  first  day  was  Monday  and  the  seventh  day 
was  Sunday.  The  Egyptian  weeks  were  also 
lunar,  and  the  first  day  was  Saturday  and  the 
seventh  day  was  Friday.  It  is  of  no  use  to  assert 
that  the  seventh  day  of  the  Mosaic  commandment 
is  the  regularly  recurring  seventh  day  from  the 
beginning.  No  one  has  furnished  the  slightest 
evidence  to  support  such  a  sweeping  statement. 

Why  should  the  Saturdarians  commence  the 
day  at  sundown?  No  doubt  it  is  to  have  the 
identical  time  of  Palestine  where  the  command- 
ment was  given.  But  our  time  differs  with 
theirs  about  eight  hours.  Suppose  at  Chicago 
the  sun  sets  at  six  o'clock,  that  would  correspond 
to  ten  A.M.,  at  Jerusalem.  So  to  keep  the  identi- 
cal time  of  Jerusalem  the  Sabbath  would  have  to 
commence  at  ten  o'clock  on  Friday  forenoon. 

Now  the  fourth  commandment  does  not  say  the 
seventh  day  of  the  week  but  the  seventh  day 
after  six  days  work.  Here  are  the  words  **  Re- 
member the  Sabbath  Day  to  keep  it  holy.  Six 
days  shalt  thou  labor  and  do  all  thy  work :  but 
the  seventh  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God." 
Therefore  if  we  only  work  five  days  and  are  idle 
the  next,  we  are  not  entitled,  if  we  take  the  com- 


322     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

mand  literally,  to  the  Seventh  Day's  rest.  No 
Saturdarians  keep  the  identical  time  of  Palestine 
or  of  Babylonia,  they  do  not  keep  it  in  the  same 
way,  they  do  not  carry  out  the  penalties  in  the 
same  way ;  then  as  they  do  not  keep  the  day,  its 
duties,  and  its  penalties,  they  do  not  keep  it  at  all. 
The  objections  to  the  keeping  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Sabbath  are  put  briefly  as  follows :  1,  No 
manner  of  work  must  be  done,  the  rest  must  be 
absolute ;  2,  It  obligates  us  to  give  the  beast  of 
burden,  cattle,  manservants  and  maidservants  a 
rest  which  cannot  be  followed  literally ;  3,  It  was 
after  six  days'  work  that  they  were  required  to 
rest ;  4,  It  was  originally  the  seventh  day  of  the 
moon ;  5,  The  time  differs  many  hours  from  that  of 
Palestine  so  that  all  cannot  keep  the  identical 
time  ;  6,  True  Sabbath  keeping  obligates  one  to 
observe  the  Sabbatic  year  and  the  year  of  jubilee ; 
7,  To  be  scriptural,  punishment  of  death  must  fol- 
low its  violation;  8,  The  Jewish  Sabbath  com- 
mences at  sundown,  and  as  there  is  no  sundown  at 
the  poles  for  months  at  a  time  it  cannot  then  be 
kept ;  9,  One  must  not  go  out  of  his  place, 
bear  a  burden,  gather  sticks,  nor  kindle  a  fire  on 
the  Sabbath ;  10,  It  was  given  to  the  Jews  and 
had  special  significance  to  them  and  to  no  others ; 
11,   The  fourth  commandment   does   not  require 


Appeal  for  Concerted  Action,  323 

worship  but  only  to  be  idle;  12,  God  does  not 
himself  re^t  on  the  Sabbath  day.  This  was 
Christ's  special  reason  for  working  on  the  Sab- 
bath. 

True  Christianity  is  a  state  of  the  heart.  It  is 
the  "  Christ  in  you  "  that  constitutes  a  true  fol- 
lower of  the  Master.  If  we  are  possessed  with 
his  spirit  we  have  the  credentials  of  Christianity. 
If  we  have  that,  we  have  all  that  there  is  in 
religion.  When  Christ  left  he  sent  the  Spirit  to 
be  the  teacher  and  leader.  Now  if  the  Spirit  is  to 
be  the  guide,  why  go  back  and  be  taught  and  led 
by  Moses.  We  are  surely  following  Moses  when 
we  have  no  other  authority  than  simply  his  com- 
mandment. Paul  said  that  "  Circumcision  availeth 
nothing  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a  new  creature," 
so  with  the  Sabbath.  Sabbath  keeping  availeth 
nothing  nor  Sabbath  breaking,  but  a  new  creature. 
He  tried  to  show  the  Roman  Church  that  true 
circumcision  was  of  the  heart,  so  true  Sabbath 
keeping  is  of  the  heart,  in  fact  a  heart  Sabbath 
(rest)  in  Christ.  Obeying  Old  Testament  com- 
mandments is  putting  a  new  patch  on  an  old  gar- 
ment, and  new  wine  in  old  bottles  which  Christ 
forbade. 

Although  Christianity  is  a  thing  of  the  heart, 
yet    Christendom   has   set   a   day  apart   for    the 


324     Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

purpose  of  worship.  Not  because  it  is  a  Sabbath 
or  a  holy  day  in  its  ancient  sense,  but  simply  to 
afford  an  opportunity  for  spiritual  culture.  It  is 
the  commemoration  day  of  the  resurrection  of 
Christ  from  the  dead,  and  it  is  more  likely  to  call 
out  our  reverence  for  Christ  and  worship  for  God 
than  any  other  day.  It  is  not  the  essential  of 
Christianity,  but  a  product  of  the  reverence  of  his 
followers  for  Christ,  and  has  in  this  age  become  a 
necessity. 

Then  why  not  all  pay  homage  to  Christ  by 
observing  fitly  the  glad  resurrection  day  ?  Nothing 
is  gained  by  some  keeping  the  Saturday  Sabbath 
and  all  the  others  observing  Sunday.  It  leads  to  a 
disrespect  for  both  days.  Time  cannot  be  lost  by 
bickering  over  a  relic  of  Judaism.  Let  us  show 
our  love  and  sacrifice  by  giving  up  the  non-essen- 
tials for  the  larger  good  of  all.  Let  us  forget  our 
differences  and  unite  our  forces  for  the  redemption 

of  the  race. 

Concerning  the  Jews. 

No  people  have  influenced  the  world  God-ward 
more  than  the  Jews.  Nearly  all  the  ancient  king- 
doms of  the  world  have  been  touched  with  the 
life  of  God's  chosen  people,  and  lifted  to  a  higher 
plane  of  moral  living.  It  was  through  the  Jews 
that  God  uttered  his  divine  thoughts  and  gave  to 


Appeal  for  Concerted  Action.  325 

the  race  the  fundamental  principle  of  "  Love  to 
men  and  love  to  God,"  as  the  essence  of  pure  and 
undefiled  religion.  The  zeal  for  God  and  religion 
shown  by  this  race  of  people,  has  been  unsur- 
passed by  anything  in  the  pages  of  history. 
Whether  enjoying  prosperity  and  glory  on  the 
heights  of  Judea,  or  living  as  slaves  in  the  Valley 
of  the  Nile,  or  as  captives  on  the  plains  of 
Babylonia,  or  as  the  oppressed  subjects  of  Greek 
and  Roman  rulers,  they  held  tenaciously  to  the 
religion  of  Yahweh  and  preserved  it  to  the  present 
day.  To-day  they  are  scattered  over  the  face  of 
the  earth,  but  even  this  has  not  weaned  them 
from  the  great  fundamental  tenets  of  their  cher- 
ished creed.  Words  are  too  insignificant  to  ex- 
press the  world's  indebtedness  to  them  for  this 
inestimable  blessing.  Their  teachings  have  shown 
that  the  great  essential  was  love  and  righteousness. 
"  Cease  to  do  evil  and  learn  to  do  well "  crops  out 
all  through  the  law,  prophets ,  and  historic  writ- 
ings. Ordinances  were  instituted  as  an  aid  in 
calling  out  religious  feelings,  and  to  guide  the 
mind  to  spiritual  principles,  thereby  making  more 
impressive  the  objective  reality.  One  of  these 
ordinances  was  the  Seventh  Day  Sabbath.  It  was 
given  like  other  holy  times  and  seasons  for  man's 
good  and  could  be  modified  at  will,  when  it  could 


326     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

in  a  greater  measure  subserve  the  interests  of  the 
people.     The  ordinances  aimed  at  righteousness, 
love    and    God-likeness.     Isaiah  said,  "  Bring   no 
more  vain  oblations ;  incense  is  an  abomination  to 
me ;     new    moon    and     Sabbath,    the    calling    of 
assemblies,  —  I    cannot  away  with  iniquity  even 
your  solemn  meeting.  .   .   .   Wash  you,  make  you 
clean,  put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings  from  be- 
fore  my   eyes  J   cease   to    do    evil;     learn   to    do 
well."  ^     This  appears  to  substitute  well  doing  for 
the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath :  without  well  doing  it 
is  vain  and  useless.     It  implies  the  right  to  take 
away  the  Sabbath,  if  it  fails  to  make  people  more 
righteous.     The  Jcavs  have  made  great  advances 
in  modifying  the  Sabbath  already.     The  Jubilee 
and  the  seventh  year  Sabbath  were  given  by  God 
to  this  peculiar  people,  but  are  these  kept  now  by 
them  ?     Why   not  ?     Why   is    the    Seventh    Day 
Sabbath  kept  and  the  seventh  year  not  kept,  when 
they  were  both   given  by  God   and   with   equal 
authority  ?    It  is  not  observed  now,  as  it  is  not  for 
the  best  welfare  of  the  people  of  the  country  under 
present  conditions.      So  the  Sabbatic  years  have 
been  abolished  by  the  Jews  themselves,  because 
more  good  can  be  accomplished  without  them. 
Thus  we  see   that  even  the  Jew  with  all  his 
1  Isa.  i.  13,  16. 


Appeal  for  Concerted  Action.  32T 

strictness  and  austerity  has  made  great  alterations 
in  his  methods  and  religious  customs  to  suit 
varying  circumstances.  He  has  gotten  far  away 
from  the  Scriptural  sense  of  the  Sabbath  and 
has  adopted  the  custom  of  Christian  sects.  The 
way  of  keeping  the  Sabbath  has  been  affected 
by  modern  influences.  In  olden  times  the  con- 
scientious Jew  would  not  light  a  fire  on  the 
Sabbath  Day,  but  now  not  even  the  strictest 
Jew  would  hesitate  to  do  this  forbidden  thing. 
Formerly  he  would  not  make  a  journey  from  his 
home,  but  now  the  fourth  commandment  is  not 
allowed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  travelling,  if  it  is 
found  necessary.  The  changes  are  not  due  to  any 
lack  of  spiritual  interest  on  the  part  of  this  select 
race,  but  rather  to  the  progressive  revelation 
which  God  makes  through  the  hearts  of  his  faith- 
ful followers.  The  changes  are  made  according 
to  the  will  of  God  worked  out  by  the  Children  of 
Israel.  This  is  clear  evidence  that  the  Sabbath, 
so  far  as  the  Jews  are  concerned,  can  be  and  has 
been  changed  to  correspond  to  the  wants  of 
society.  The  words  to  the  Saturdarians,  bearing 
on  the  Sabbath  are  applicable  here.  So  the  reader 
is  directed  to  the  first  section  of  this  chapter 
where  the  matter  referred  to  is  to  be  found. 

But  Christians  have  a  day,  too,  on  which  they 


328    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

rest  from  labor  for  the  purpose  of  worshipping 
the  true  and  living  God.  True  it  is  on  a  different 
day,  but  it  is  as  near  the  ancient  Jewish  Sabbath 
as  that  of  the  Jews  at  present.  Both  Jews  and 
Christians  are  earnestly  striving  to  promote  the 
best  interests  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  certainly 
is  not  for  the  public  good,  to  have  two  different 
days  in  the  week  for  rest  and  worship.  This 
would  lead  to  the  desecration  of  both  days  by  the 
irreligious.  Why  not  unite  together  in  observing 
one  day  as  a  special  religious  day  unto  the  Lord 
God  of  Israel  ?  It  would  be  better  for  the  people 
and  better  for  the  religion  to  settle  upon  one  day 
and  all  worship  on  the  same  day.  If  it  is  for  tne 
best  good  then  it  is  the  will  of  God.  The  diffi- 
culty here  would  be  on  the  selection  of  a  day.  It 
would  be  literally  impossible  to  get  all  Christians 
to  accept  any  other  day  than  Sunday  which  is  the 
resurrection  day  of  Christ.  There  is  no  other  day 
suitable.  No  adequate  reason  can  be  given  for 
any  other,  as  the  Jewish  day  is  limited  to  one 
tribe  of  people  and  does  not  correspond  to  what  it 
was  in  earlier  times.  Majorities  rule  in  this  coun- 
try, so  the  wish  of  a  majority  of  about  ninety-nine 
one-hundredths  ought  to  prevail  with  reasonable 
people  in  a  matter  of  this  kind.  It  is  true  the 
Jew  may  think  that  the  Christian  might  adopt  his 


Appeal  for  Concerted  Action,  329 

day,  the  day  that  "  The  Lord  thy  God  brought 
thee  out  thence  through  a  mighty  hand  and  a 
stretched  out  arm :  therefore,  the  Lord  thy  God 
commanded  thee  to  keep  the  Sabbath  Day."  But 
what  day  is  that  ?  No  one  can  tell.  The  Christian's 
worship  day  is  as  near  the  original  Sabbath  day  as 
the  present  Jewish  Sabbath.  It  is  encouraging  to 
see  the  Jews  in  some  places  closing  up  their  shops 
on  the  Lord's  Day,  and  devoting  the  time  to  divine 
worship.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  kindly  request 
the  faithful  Jew  to  observe  the  day  that  nearly  all 
civilized  nations  hold  as  sacred.  From  the  earliest 
history  of  this  great  people,  their  guiding  principle 
was  the  will  of  God.  It  evidently  is  not  the  will  of 
God  to  have  things  as  they  are  now,  for  in  division 
there  is  loss  of  energy,  power  and  progress. 
What  would  be  lost  by  substituting  one  day  for 
another?  The  same  number  of  hours  would  be 
devoted  to  the  worship  of  God  on  either  day.  No 
one  doubts  that  God  wishes  for  unity  in  a  worship 
day.  Love  is  the  essence  of  the  Jews'  religion, 
and  they  cannot  show  this  love  more  effectually 
than  by  adopting  a  common  day  of  worship,  thus 
subserving  the  public  good.  Christ  was  a  Jew, 
and  Christianity  was  the  rich,  ripe  fruit  of  Judei- 
ism.  Christianity  is  the  spiritualized  part  of 
Judaism.     Christ's  resurrection  demonstrated  the 


330    Scientific  Basis  of  Sahiath  and  Sunday, 

resurrection  of  humanity.  The  day  would  have  sig- 
nificance to  all,  and  the  Jews  especially  would  not 
be  inconsistent  in  meeting  on  that  day  for  worship, 
for  Christ  was  of  their  race.  To-day  the  Jew 
and  the  Christian  separately  go  to  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  whether  church  or  synagogue,  for  the 
express  purpose  of  worshipping  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham, Isaac,  and  Jacob.  On  departing,  they  ex- 
perience the  same  results.  For  the  Jew  to  adopt 
the  worship  day  of  all  Christendom  is  no  compro- 
mise on  his  part  as  it  would  be  a  demonstration  of 
love  for  humanity.  It  certainly  would  accomplish 
greater  good.  To  do  this  would  be  an  act  of 
righteousness  in  perfect  accord  with  the  spirit  and 
teachings  of  Moses  and  the  prophets. 

Concerning  Christians, 

Consistency  coupled  with  zeal  and  devotion,  is 
necessary  for  the  satisfactory  solution  of  the  Sun- 
day problem.  Inconsistency  is  shown  in  various 
ways.  Much  injury  has  been  wrought  by  some 
religious  bodies  observing  the  day  in  the  forenoon 
at  divine  services,  and  spending  the  afternoon  as 
if  it  were  a  holiday.  It  is  a  flagrant  misconcep- 
tion of  the  day  to  think,  that  the  time  we  spend 
in  Church  only  is  holy.  The  day  from  midnight 
till  midnight  is  the  resurrection  day. 


Appeal  for  Concerted  Action,  331 

Again  care  should  be  used  in  allowing  others 
the  same  rights  that  we  demand  for  ourselves. 
If  we  put  on  extra  trains  for  camp-meetings,  why 
not  allow  others  the  same  privilege  for  their 
special  meetings,  whatever  they  may  be?  If  we 
allow  ice  cream,  soft  drinks^  and  confectionery  to 
be  sold  at  such  religious  gatherings  on  Sunday, 
why  not  allow  others  the  same  rights  ?  If  resolu- 
tions are  adopted  at  religious  meetings  bearing  on 
certain  things  on  the  worship  day  of  the  Chris- 
tian, caution  must  be  used  not  to  indulge  in  the 
same  things  that  were  prohibited  in  others.  All 
Christians  must  show  that  they  really  expect  no 
more  of  others  than  they  are  willing  to  observe 
themselves.  Business,  travelling,  excursioning, 
should  be  left  till  another  time.  The  true  dis- 
ciple of  Jesus  should  pause  and  seriously  consider 
before  indulging  in  those  things  that  are  question- 
able on  the  Day  of  the  Lord.  ^  Business  men  who 
are  members  of  Christian  Churches,  ought  never 
to  compel  a  railway  company  to  handle  their 
goods  on  the  day  of  rest  unless  they  are  driven 
to  it  under  peculiar  and  urgent  circumstances. 
The  faithful  adherent  of  the  Christian  Church 
when  he  goes  to  his  summer  resort,  will  not  spend 
the  Lord's  Day  in  driving  around  and  other  pas- 
times of  similar  sort,  and  totally  absenting  him- 


332    Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

self  from  Church.  He  will  be  the  same  Christian 
abroad  that  he  is  at  home,  attending  divine  ser- 
vice and  ordering  his  conduct  as  though  he  were 
in  his  own  community.  The  day  should  be  used 
for  the  purpose  originally  intended.  It  is  a  day 
designed  to  cultivate  the  relations  between  the 
creature  and  the  Creator,  to  bring  into  more  har- 
monious feelings  the  Infinite  Father  and  his  chil- 
dren, to  unite  the  human  with  the  divine.  No  time 
of  the  Lord's  Day  ought  to  be  used  in  devouring 
light  and  sensational  literature,  but  instead  read 
that  which  counts  for  morals  and  manhood. 

Concerning  the  Nbnr  Church  Member. 

No  clear  thinking  person  can  fail  to  notice  the 
benefits  derived  from  a  religion  based  on  "  love  to 
God  and  love  to  man,"  as  the  essential  principle. 
The  opposition  that  has  been  shown  to  religion 
was  not  against  its  fundamental  factor,  but  rather 
its  perversion.  Man  is  so  constituted  that  he 
must  have  a  religion  of  some  kind  to  satisfy  the 
cravings  of  his  inner  nature.  A  more  hopeless 
task  was  never  undertaken,  than  the  attempt  to 
destroy  religion  from  among  the  human  family. 
It  is  not  a  question  of  religion  and  no  religion, 
but  what  religion ;  for  as  long  as  man  has  reason 
he  will  have  a  religion  of  some  kind.     As  soon  as 


Appeal  for  Concerted  Action,  333 

man  commenced  to  think,  he  commenced  to  seek 
for  the  Infinite  Causation  of  all  things,  from 
which  developed  all  religious  systems.  Agnosti- 
cism no  doubt  exists  in  our  midst  but  it  is  the 
result  principally  of  prejudice  and  feeling,  rather 
than  of  reason.  It  comes  from  a  perversion  of 
the  reason,  for  as  we  have  a  limited  consciousness, 
there  must  be  of  necessity  an  unUmited  conscious- 
ness, which  we  call  God.  The  scientist  cannot 
commence  his  work  without  postulating  the  intel- 
ligibility of  the  universe,  which  implies  an  intelli- 
gent force  back  of  it. 

No  intelligent  person  need  be  told  the  advan- , 
tages  of  a  religion  based  upon  the  spirit  and  teach- 
ings  of    Christ.     To  maintain   it  in   its   highest 
degree,  it  is  reasonable  and  necessary,  that  a  cer- 
tain time  be  set  apart  to  be  devoted  exclusively   I 
to  religious  exercises.     This  is  one  purpose  of  the 
Lord's   Day.     It  not  only  gives   the  weary  toiler     i 
rest  from  his  labor,  but  puts  time  at  his  disposal     , 
for  the  tuning  of  his  soul  so  that  it  may  vibrate 
in  happy  harmony  with  that  of  the  great  Infinite.     / 
It  is  the  stopping  place  in  the  business  life  of  the 
nation.     It  is  a  day  to   remove  the  rust  of  the 
week.     When  we  consider  the  keen  competition 
of  business  and  the  tremendous   strain  upon  the 
nervous  system,  nothing  could  be  more  justifiable,, 


334     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

than  a  national  rest  day  to  turn  men's  minds  to 
higher  things.  One  day  in  the  week  affords 
earth's  toilers  time  to  ponder,  meditate,  and  solve 
the  problems  of  life  and  destiny. 

The  purpose  of  the  Lord's  Day  is  to  advance 
the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  race ;  and 
as  such  it  becomes  the  duty  of  every  true  citizen 
of  our  country  to  do  the  utmost  in  his  power 
to  maintain  its  observance.  As  it  is  a  blessing  to 
the  country  it  is  the  duty  of  the  true  citizen  to 
support  this  institution.  It  aims  to  lift  mankind, 
purify  the  pubhc  morals,  drive  away  ignorance, 
and  assist  in  the  faithful  performance  of  our 
duties  to  God  and  to  man.  The  Lord's  Day  is 
such  an  institution,  and  therefore  all  who  are  not 
members  of  any  Church  are  exhorted  to  give  their 
hearty  co-operation  for  the  preservation  of  this 
humanitarian  and  religious  institution. 


Sunday  and  the  Child.  335 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

SUNDAY  AND  THE  CHILD. 

Never  since  the  dawn  of  civilization  has  the 
child  been  the  subject  of  so  much  interest  and  study 
as  at  the  present  time.  The  world  has  just  awoke  to 
the  great  significance  of  child  study  and  its  bear- 
ing on  anthropology,  psychology,  and  pedagogy 
as  well  as  on  the  whole  future  of  the  race.  The  child 
has  at  last  been  given  the  attention  and  rights  to 
which  it  is  entitled.  The  child's  day  has  certainly 
dawned.  Prominent  educational  institutions  are 
giving  special  attention  to  child  study  and  assign 
the  subject  an  important  place  in  their  curriculum. 
Cities  have  provided  parks  specially  for  children, 
fully  equipped  with  teeters,  swings,  horizontal  bars, 
sand  beds,  etc.,  for  juvenile  recreation.  Schools  have 
introduced  the  kindergarten  method  where  the 
children  learn  by  play.  Courts  for  the  children, 
with  special  officers  to  look  after  the  neglected  or 
stubborn  ones,  have  been  instituted.  In  the  Church 
they   are   receiving   exceptional   attention.    While 


336    Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

many  preach  special  sermons  during  the  year,  the 
second  Sunday  in  June  is  generally  set  apart  for 
children  and  is  called  Children's  Day  throughout 
the  country.  One  Sunday  in  the  year  specially 
devoted  to  children  for  educational  and  religious 
purposes  comes  decidedly  short  of  what  the  situa- 
tion demands.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  child 
should  have  less  consideration  shown  to  it  on  Sun- 
day than  the  adult.  Every  Sunday  should  be  a 
Children's  Day.  A  few  years  ago  the  Christian's 
rest  day  was  cold,  barren,  and  uninviting  to  the 
child.  It  was  required  to  maintain  a  solemn  stillness 
for  fear  of  breaking  the  Sabbath.  The  childish  chat- 
ter, the  hearty  laugh,  and  the  boyish  whistle  were 
all  hushed  at  the  approach  of  the  Holy  Day.  Toys, 
games,  etc.,  were  all  carefully  put  out  of  sight  so  as 
not  to  offend  the  Lord  of  earth  and  skies.  The  day 
was  cold  and  chilly,  fit  only  to  suppress  and  check 
the  nature  of  the  child  rather  than  cultivate  and 
develop  it.  It  is  a  day  specially  calculated  to  meet 
the  needs  of  the  child  in  tenderly  touching  and 
educating  its  higher  nature.  Sunday  ought  to  be  a 
day  of  freedom  where  Puritanic  severity  is  removed 
and  the  little  ones  allowed  the  innocent  use  of  their 
toys  and  games.  As  it  is  the  home  day  of  the  parents 
and  family,  due  attention  and  familiarity  is  to  be 


Sunday  and  the  Child,  337 

cultivated.  Much  of  the  child's  activities  must  be 
entered  into  and  directed  by  the  parents. 

Every  effort  should  be  made  to  make  the  day  a 
special  one  in  the  minds  of  the  children.  The  best 
wearing  apparel  should  have  the  privilege  of  an 
appearance  on  that  day.  The  bath-tub,  finger- 
nails, etc.,  should  receive  more  than  ordinary  atten- 
tion. Not  only  ought  it  be  made  an  unusual  day, 
but  one  to  be  pleasantly  looked  forward  to  and  not 
a  day  to  be  dreaded.  This  is  the  day  of  all  the  week 
when  singing  and  music  should  form  an  important 
part.  No  other  day  is  better  suited  to  the  sweet 
strains  of  cheerful  song  as  the  joy  day  of  the  early 
Christians.  Free  use  of  the  whole  house,  including 
the  darkened  parlors,  are  to  be  allowed.  Pictures 
form  an  essential  element  in  the  child's  interest, 
therefore  it  is  well  to  supply  this  demand.  Also 
cutting  out  pictures  for  scrap-books,  etc.,  forms  a 
delightful  exercise  suitable  to  one  of  tender  years. 
Picture  drawing  on  slate  or  paper  is  usually  par- 
ticipated in  with  considerable  pleasure.  Reading  is 
to  be  a  prime  duty  in  the  day's  program.  But  as  the 
child  is  unable  or  little  inclined  to  do  that  which 
savors  of  the  school  task,  that  part  must  be  attended 
to  by  the  parents.  Striking  stories  of  the  Bible, 
stories  in  religious  papers,   magazines,   brief   de- 


338    Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

scrip tions  of  nature,  and  objects  of  nature,  suitable 
books,  and  selections  from  books,  may  be  read  by 
the  parent  to  the  young  with  great  profit. 

The  duty  of  attending  divine  service  at  least 
once  on  Sunday  is  to  be  encouraged.  Caution  here 
should  be  used  not  to  make  religion  onerous  or 
repugnant  to  the  feelings  of  the  child. 

A  walk  in  the  midst  of  nature  is  certainly  in  keep- 
ing with  the  purpose  of  the  day.  In  the  earlier 
years  of  one's  life  nature  has  a  peculiar  interest 
and  fascination.  We  should  not  fail  to  foster  this 
spirit  in  every  legitimate  way.  Every  opportunity 
of  direct  communion  with  the  beauties  of  nature 
ought  to  be  embraced.  An  interesting  exercise  for 
children  is  the  gathering  and  comparing  of  the 
different  kinds  and  forms  of  leaves.  Their  youthful 
mind  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  beautiful 
plan  and  design  of  each,  also  the  unity  of  the  whole. 
The  same  purpose  is  served  by  collecting  together 
various  kinds  of  flowers,  stones,  etc.  The  Sunday 
afternoon  nature  stroll  furnishes  an  excellent  op- 
portunity to  note  and  observe  the  difference  and 
similarity  in  such  familiar  types  of  life  as  butter- 
flies, birds,  insects,  etc.  The  aim  to  be  adhered 
throughout  is  to  stimulate  the  child's  mind  and 
soul,  and  produce  a  soul  growth. 


Sunday  and  the  Child,  339 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  this  nature  recreation 
has  a  religious  value  in  that  it  heightens  and  in- 
creases reverence  for  the  Author  of  all  creation.  The 
purpose  that  must  be  constantly  adhered  to  is  not 
only  self-development,  but  also  respect  for  and 
obedience  to  the  Maker  of  earth  and  skies. 


340     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE   IDEAL   LORD's   DAY. 

A  WORK  of  this  kind  would  be  incomplete 
did  it  not  present  a  model  Sunday  for  devoted 
Christians.  Of  course  people  situated  differently 
could  not  keep  it  alike  in  all  its  details.  How- 
ever an  ideal  in  its  principal  features  only  could 
be  presented.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
if  we  simply  rest,  we  are  not  keeping  the 
Lord's  Day.  It  is  a  day  devoted  to  religious 
uses,  and  if  not  observed  this  way  is  not  observed 
at  aU. 

We  ought  to  start  the  day  as  early  as  any  other 
day.  It  is  only  the  force  of  habit  that  causes  so 
many  to  remain  in  bed  until  the  morning  hours 
are  past,  thus  wasting  most  of  the  forenoon  forever. 
As  it  is  a  joy  day  it  should  be  commenced  in  that 
spirit.  Such  exercises  as  singing,  music,  religious 
devotions  and  communion  with  the  Author  of  all, 
are  exercises  that  should  not  be  left  out  of  the 
day's  duties.     To  be  "  in  the  spirit  on  the  Lord's 


The  Ideal  Lorcfs  Day,  341 

Day  "  is  the  highest  worship  and  the  best  observ- 
ance of  the  day. 

This  is  a  day  in  which  the  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures should  form  an  essential  part  of  the  exer- 
cises of  the  day.  One  also  requires  time  for 
reflection,  meditation,  self  examination,  together 
with  private  devotion. 

Attendance  upon  divine  service  on  the  Lord's 
Day  is  imperative  upon  the  Christian.  The  in- 
spiring environment,  the  touching  words  of  truth, 
the  helpful  influences  of  others,  and  the  power  of 
the  Divine  Spirit  on  the  heart  in  response  to  wor- 
ship, cannot  fail  to  ennoble  the  soul,  lighten  life's 
cares,  stimulate  the  hopes,  produce  a  happier 
frame  of  mind,  and  transform  the  soul  into  the 
divine  likeness.  The  result  is  better  husbands, 
better  wives,  better  fathers,  better  mothers,  better 
children,  better  neighbors  and  better  friends. 
Church  services  or  preaching  services  are  an  indis- 
pensable adjunct  of  the  Lord's  Day;  and  no 
Christian  can  afford  to  miss  the  benefits  of  the 
public  service  on  Sunday. 

The  day  affords  an  excellent  opportunity  to 
feed  and  stimulate  the  mind  by  healthy  devotional 
literature.  To-day  good  books,  magazines,  and 
religious  papers  will  furnish  abundant  material  for 
the  needs  of  all. 


342     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday. 

Physical  exercise  upon  the  Lord's  Day  is  not 
to  be  entirely  neglected.  We  cannot  worship  all 
the  time.  Our  natures  demand  physical  exercise 
every  day  to  maintain  a  certain  degree  of  health- 
fulness.  It  must  not  be  violent,  but  mild  and 
regular.  Such  action  as  will  mildly  stimulate 
the  circulation  of  the  blood,  cannot  be  looked 
upon  as  any  other  than  a  blessing.  A  walk  or  a 
drive,  etc.,  might  fit  us  better  for  the  beginning 
of  the  next  week's  work  than  complete  cessation 
of  action. 

It  is  also  a  day  in  which  there  is  an  opportunity 
to  visit  the  sick,  the  poor,  and  the  unfortunate.  It 
is  the  Lord's  Day  and  the  joy  of  it  must  be  per- 
petuated in  the  lives  of  others,  by  our  carrying  it 
into  the  homes  of  the  neglected  and  the  suffering. 
The  Master  went  about  doing  good,  and  that  is 
what  his  followers  are  to  do  at  least  on  that  day 
that  is  specially  his. 

Furthermore,  it  is  a  day  when  we  might  with 
profit  visit  the  library,  art  rooms,  museums,  or 
any  other  place  where  instruction,  information,  or 
inspiration  can  be  gained.  Surely  no  thinking 
person  can  visit  such  institutions  without  gaining 
a  little  help,  a  little  joy,  a  little  more  pleasure. 
To  the  pure  thinking  person,  such  a  visit  certainly 
touches   the  higher   self.      Of    course   it  may  be 


The  Ideal  Lord's  Day,  343 

objected  that  he  ought  to  be  at  home  attending 
to  his  devotions.  Human  nature  is  so  constructed 
that  it  can  only  endure  work,  or  pleasure  but  a 
very  limited  time,  without  requiring  change.  So 
such  diversions  on  Sunday  all  contribute  to  the 
great  purpose  of  the  day. 


344    Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday, 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION. 

Summarizing  the  foregoing  pages  we  have  the 
following  outline : 

The  holy  day  was  an  established  institution  in 
prehistoric  times  by  peoples  scattered  the  world 
over.  It  first  originated  from  moon  worship. 
Nature-worship  was  the  earliest  form  of  worship 
apart  from  fetichism,  and  the  moon  took  prece- 
dence of  all  other  objects  of  nature.  The  choice  of 
the  seventh  day  rather  than  the  tenth  as  a  sacred 
day,  was  due  to  the  new  phase  of  the  moon,  appear- 
ing on  the  average  every  seventh  day.  The  four 
different  shapes  of  the  moon — new  moon,  half 
moon,  full  moon,  and  the  reversed  half  moon — 
called  out  special  devotions  on  the  particular  days 
on  which  they  first  appeared  and  these  developed 
into  sacred  days.  Ancient  peoples,  supposing  the 
gods  looked  like  themselves,  identified  the  moon 
with  the  Great  Cause  because  of  its  similarity  to  a 


Summary  and  Conclusion.  345 

living  being.  Ordinary  work  was  avoided,  for  fear 
of  arousing  the  wrath  of  the  patron  god.  Though 
work  was  prohibited,  yet  feasting  and  merry-mak- 
ing were  felt  to  be  perfectly  legitimate,  and  con- 
stituted the  essential  feature  of  the  day.  It  was  an 
unlucky  day  among  all  primitive  peoples.  Bad 
luck  occurred  only  when  the  god  was  angered  by 
the  ordinary  work  of  man  on  that  day. 

All  nations  with  whom  the  Hebrews  came  in 
contact  observed  this  ancient  custom.  Israel  from 
their  intimate  relation  with  the  Canaanites,  Baby- 
lonians, and  others,  fell  into  the  way  of  this  cus- 
tom, and  finally  recast  it  into  a  mould  of  their 
own.  In  the  early  part  of  Israel's  career,  the 
holy  day  was  observed  much  like  that  of  sur- 
rounding peoples.  It  was  kept  on  the  seventh 
day  of  the  moon,  and  had  the  spirit  of  an  atone- 
ment day.  About  the  middle  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury before  Christ,  in  the  earliest  written  code  of 
laws  for  Israel,  there  is  a  simple  exhortation  to 
keep  the  Seventh  Day,  especially  in  plowing  time 
and  harvest  time.  A  little  later  another  caution- 
ary direction  is  given  similar  to  the  preceding. 
Still  later,  just  before  the  Exile,  the  People's 
Code  was  promulgated,  which  requested  them  to 
keep  the  Sabbath  because  God  led  them  out  of 
Egypt.     It  is  yet  man's  day  with  but  little  empha- 


346    Scientific  Basis  of  Sahhath  and  Sunday. 

sis  placed  upon  its  observance.  No  penalty  is  yet 
attached  to  the  violation  of  the  Seventh  Day. 
During  the  first  part  of  the  Exile,  Ezekiel  com- 
mands them  in  a  law  to  keep  the  Sabbath  as  it 
is  a  sign  between  God  and  Israel.  Lastly,  the 
Priestly  Code  was  given  to  the  Jews  after  their 
return  from  Captivity.  This  Code  commanded 
them  to  keep  holy  the  Sabbath  because  God 
rested  the  Seventh  Day  from  his  creative  work. 
The  JcAvish  Sabbath  was  now  perfected.  It  is 
no  longer  man's  day,  but  rather  God's  day.  It 
was  now  the  seventh  day  of  time  instead  of  the 
seventh  day  of  the  moon,  as  before  the  Exile.  It 
was  an  unqualified  rest-day,  rest  being  the  essen- 
tial feature  of  the  day.  No  manner  of  work 
whether  of  man  or  beast  Avas  to  be  allowed ;  not 
even  the  ordinary  household  duty  of  lighting  a 
fire  was  to  be  tolerated  on  the  holy  Sabbath.  The 
land  even  had  to  rest  in  honor  of  God  every  seven 
years.  The  holy  day  received  a  new  name  now. 
It  is  called  a  Sabbath  which  is  the  Hebrew  word 
for  rest.  It  had  no  relation  to  the  Babylon  Sabat- 
tum,  for  that  was  a  day  to  appease  the  anger  of 
the  gods.  In  this  period  the  Sabbath  for  the  first 
time  had  a  penalty  attached  to  its  violation.  It 
meant  death  to  the  one  who  transgressed  the 
bounds  of  the  holy  day. 


Summary  and   Conclusion.  347 

Before  the  Israelites  were  carried  away  to  Baby- 
lon, the  new  moon  was  kept  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  Sabbath,  but  after  that  event,  the  moon  lost 
this  distinction  and  only  the  Sabbath  was  kept 
sacred. 

The  Sabbath  continued  to  be  hedged  about  with 
restrictions  until  it  developed  into  the  Rabbinical 
Sabbath,  which  was  in  existence  in  New  Testa- 
ment times. 

The  Sabbath  was  not  to  last  forever.     It  was 
not  designed  to  last  longer  than  the  other  elements 
of  the  Jewish  law.     Almost  every  institution  of 
Judaism  has  a  "  statute  forever  throughout  your 
generations  "  attached  to  it  as  well  as  the  Sabbath. 
The  Passover,  feast  of    unleavened  bread,  burnt 
offerings,  oil  for  lamps,  etc.,  were  commanded  to 
be  observed  forever.     This  word  forever  must  be 
taken  in  the  sense  of  indefinite  time.     The  pres- 
ence of  a  law  or  commandment  in  a  decalogue  does 
not  imply  its  eternal  validity.     If  they  are  binding 
forever  in  the  "  E  "  decalogue  ^  they  are  also  bind- 
ing in  the  "  J  "   decalogue,  ^  for  they  were  both 
written  on  tables  of  stone  at  the  direction  of  God. 
Jeremiah  prophesied  of  a  time  when  the  law  should 
be  written  on  the  mind  and  heart  which  signified 
the    abolition    of   the   law.      The    declaration   of 
1  Ex.  XX.  3-17.  2  Ex.  xxxiv.  14-20. 


348      Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

Christ  "  Worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  truth  " 
did  away  forever  with  holy  places  and  times. 
This  supplemented  by  "  My  Father  worketh  hith- 
erto [on  the  Sabbath]  and  I  work,"  makes  clear 
the  position  he  took  towards  the  Sabbath  as  a 
ceremonial  day. 

The  Sabbatic  commandment  is  not  a  moral  law 
for  that  implies  a  relation  between  human  beings. 
Morality  is  determined  by  the  nature  of  things, 
but  the  Sabbath  is  a  memorial  of  God's  rest  day. 
If  he  had  rested  the  tenth  day  then  we  would 
have  had  a  tenth  day  Sabbath,  so  the  seventh  day 
rest  cannot  be  an  eternal  moral  principle.  Christ 
could  not  say  "  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man," 
and  that  he  was  "  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  "  if  it  were 
an  unchangeable  moral  law.  The  Sabbath  law  is 
a  ceremonial  law  and  all  that  was  demanded  of 
the  Israelites  was  simply  to  rest. 

A  new  dispensation  was  inaugurated  when 
Christ  rose  from  the  dead  and  had  completed  his 
redemptive  work.  This  was  to  be  the  reign  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  in  which  all  were  to  be  led  and 
guided  by  him  in  all  things.  All  places  and  all 
times  were  now  to  be  sacred.  There  was  hence- 
forth to  be  a  perpetual  Sabbath  rest  in  Christ. 
The  old  Jewish  Sabbath  had  finished  its  mission 
when  Christ  rose  from  the  dead. 


Summary  and   Conclusion.  349 

The  resurrection  day  brought  too  much  joy  to 
be  soon  forgotten,  so  all  Jews  and  Gentiles,  hon- 
ored the  day,  not  as  a  sacred  but  as  a  memorial 
day.     It  was  not  long  after  Christ  ascended  that  a 
great   conflict  arose  between   the    Jews  and  the 
Gentiles  about  the  keeping  of   the  Mosaic   law. 
A  Council  was  finally  called  at  Jerusalem  to  settle 
the  matter.     This  Council  met  in  the  year  a.d.  54 
and  consisted  of  the  apostles  and  elders  at  Jerusa- 
lem.    They  decided  that  the  Gentiles  be  required 
to  observe  only  four   things :  "  To  abstain  from 
meats  offered  to    idols,  from  blood,  from  things 
strangled,  and  from  fornication."     The  action  of 
this  Council  was  very  important,  as  it  liberated  the 
Gentiles  for  all  time  to  come  from  the  bondage  of 
the  Mosaic  law.     Holy  days  or  Sabbath  days  were 
not   exacted   of  the   Gentiles  after  this  decision. 
The  Jew  could  observe  any  one  point  of  the  law 
or  the  whole    of    it  if  he  chose,  but  it  was  not 
officially  required  of  him.     The  Gentiles  continued 
to  exclusively    observe    the    resurrection    day  of 
Christ  though  work   at  this    time    was  not  pro- 
hibited.    There  was  no  specially  sacred  day  in  the 
Christian  Church  for  some  time  after  the  Council 
of  Jerusalem.     As  time  passed  away  the  memory 
of  Christ  grew  dearer  and  the  necessity  of  wor- 
ship grew  clearer,  so  a  tendency  towards  a  worship 


350     Scientific  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday/. 

day  commenced  to  manifest  itself.  Towards  the 
end  of  Paul's  career  a  worship  day  is  plainly  dis- 
cerned. This  day  has  no  relation  to  the  Sabbath. 
It  is  an  entirely  new  institution  belonging  to  a  new 
dispensation.  Its  spirit,  its  purpose,  and  its 
duties  were  different  from  the  old  Jewish  Sabbath. 
The  Lord's  day  cannot  be  called  a  Sabbath  unless 
we  give  to  the  Sabbath  a  meaning  which  it  did  not 
have  before. 

The  authority  of  the  Lord's  Day  is  not  based  on 
a  commandment,  for  we  are  not  under  law  now, 
but  it  is  based  on  the  will  of  God.  This  is  re- 
flected through:  (1)  the  apostles,  (2)  apostolic 
Church  fathers  and  Church  councils,  (3)  carefully 
sifted  experience,  (4)  the  dictates  of  reason.  No 
greater  authority  could  be  furnished  than  that  of 
the  above  fourfold  testimony.  The  fourth  com- 
mandment cannot  be  quoted  as  an  authority  for  the 
Lord's  Day  but  if  modified,  may  be  taken  as  a 
statement  expressing  the  will  of  God  concerning 
the  Lord's  Day. 

The  practice  of  Lord's  Day  keeping  was  made  a 
law  of  the  state  in  a.d.  321  under  Constantine, 
though  all  were  not  required  to  rest  from  labor  in 
the  country.  The  first  lawgiving  complete  rest 
from  ordinary  labor  was  made  by  the  Council  of 
Orleans  in  the  year  a.d.  538.     The  Church  in  time 


Summary  and   Conclusion.  351 

nuiltiplied  many  holy  days  which  were  put  on  a 
level  with  the  Lord's  Day.  In  the  dark  ages  the  ob- 
ligation to  observe  Sunday  was  found  in  the  voice 
of  the  Church.  It  then  became  a  Church  day  in 
the  same  sense  as  the  other  holy  days,  which  be- 
came so  burdensome  that  they  could  not  be  kept 
with  even  a  reasonable  degree  of  reverence,  so 
the  Lord's  Day  was  kept  but  little  better  than  a 
week  day.  This  produced  a  reaction  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  In  order  to  make 
prominent  some  holy  days  of  Christianity,  they 
were  related  to  certain  Jewish  institutions.  The 
Reformers,  when  they  repudiated  the  authority  of 
the  Church  and  pope,  had  to  seek  for  a  warrant  in 
the  Bible  to  sustain  the  Lord's  Day.  Then  the 
Lord's  Day  was  identified  with  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
and  depended  on  the  fourth  commandment  for  its 
authority.  This  was  first  pointed  out  by  St.  Ber- 
nard in  the  twelfth  century  and  about  the  same 
time  the  term  "  Christian  Sabbath  "  was  coined 
and  applied  to  Sunday.  This  idea  was  elaborated 
by  Nicholas  Bownd,  and  his  work  produced  a  tre- 
mendous effect  in  that  direction.  It  was  quickly 
seized  upon  by  the  reformers.  The  Puritans 
adopted  and  held  vigorously  to  it,  and  England, 
Holland,  and  latterly  America,  became  permeated 
with  his  views.     Some    Reformers  still  held  that 


352      Seientifie  Basis  of  Sabbath  and  Sunday, 

the  Lord's  Day  was  a  Church  day  and  so  these 
two  lines  of  thought  still  exist  on  the  European 
continent  to-day,  and  probably  account  for  the 
difference  in  the  way  in  which  the  day  is  kept. 

But  all  did  not  content  themselves  with  calling 
the  Lord's  Day  a  Sabbath,  basing  it  on  the  fourth 
commandment,  but  some  went  so  far  as  to  say  that 
the  Seventh  Day  (Saturday)  was  the  Sabbath. 
The  popular  conception  of  the  change  of  the  day 
from  the  Sabbath  to  the  Lord's  Day,  was  not 
advanced  till  about  twelve  centuries  after  the 
Christian  era.  It  is  an  error  and  misconception 
due  to  the  effort  to  make  the  obligation  of  the 
Lord's  Day  rest  upon  the  Bible,  in  contrast  to  the 
pope,  instead  of  referring  it  to  the  will  of  God. 
Thus  we  have  three  kinds  of  sacred  days  —  the 
Seventh  Day  of  the  Heathen  characterized  by  a 
feast^  the  Seventh  Day  of  the  Hebrews  char- 
acterized by  a  rest  and  the  Seventh  Day  of  Chris- 
tians characterized  by  worship. 

As  the  Lord's  Day  is  a  worship  day  the  cri- 
terion of  what  is  allowable  is  this :  Does  it  inter- 
fere with  the  favorable  conditions  of  worship  ?  This 
touchstone  applied  to  all  disputed  Sunday  ques- 
tions will  leave  but  few  if  any  whose  propriety 
cannot  be  determined. 

The  state  has  the  right  to  enforce  Sunday  law, 


Summary  and   Conclusion.  353 

not  indeed  to  make  men  religious  by  law,  but  to 
protect  the  right  of  those  who  have  religious  con- 
victions and  for  the  general  good  of  the  state. 

Much  more  good  will  be  accomphshed  when  all 
denominations  are  united  together  on  the  same 
day.  There  is  now  great  need  of  clear  views  on 
the  nature  and  obligation  of  the  Lord's  Day  and 
these  views  should  be  pushed  with  persistency. 

In  these  extremely  practical  times,  amid  the 
hurry  and  strain  of  business,  how  needful  it  is  to 
use  the  day  purely  for  meditation,  worship,  and 
the  cultivation  of  our  higher  nature.  Our  human 
weakness  demands  such  a  training  day.  As  the 
Jewish  Sabbath  was  a  training  day  to  lead  to 
Christ,  so  the  Lord's  Day  is  a  training  day  to  lead 
to  the  perfect  man.  A  time  may  come  when  Sun- 
day may  not  be  needed,  for  every  day  will  be  a 
Lord's  Day,  in  which  all  wiU  dwell  fully  in  the 
spirit.  If  men  were  angels  we  would  need  no 
laws  but  as  we  have  not  attained  this  blessed  con- 
dition, let  the  day  be  observed  in  a  becoming  way, 
as  it  was  first  designed  to  be  used.  It  becomes 
the  part  of  a  Christian  to  set  the  best  example  of 
the  faithful  occupation  of  the  day,  letting  it  serve 
as  an  ideal  for  others.  Use  every  means  by  pre- 
cept and  practice  that  will  promote  the  object  of 
the  Lord's  Day,  which  is  to  produce  a  spiritual  and 


\j 


354    Scientific  Basis  of  SahhafJi  and  Sunday. 

Christlike  man.  Enforce  the  Sunday  laws  by 
public  opinion,  but  use  moderation  in  resorting  to 
legal  enforcement.  Only  use  the  law  as  a  last 
resort,  and  that  only  when  the  community  is 
practically  a  unit  in  its  judgment  of  the  justice  of 
the  case.  The  moral  and  spiritual  improvement 
is  to  be  constantly  kept  in  view.  Little  is  to  be 
accomplished  by  arbitrarily  forcing  a  community 
low  in  morals  to  rest  on  Sunday.  Stir  up  and  lift 
up  the  moral  life  and  insist  upon  a  due  observance 
of  the  Lord's  Day  because  of  the  beneficent  effect 
upon  the  people.  Let  every  effort  be  put  forth 
to  make  it  a  truly  Lord's  Day.  Ordinary  work  is 
to  be  put  aside  and  the  doing  good  and  the  re- 
ceiving good  through  worship  shall  constitute  our 
employment  on  the  joyful  resurrection  day. 
Above  all  we  are  to  be  "  in  the  Spirit  on  the 
Lord's  Day."  This  is  the  truest  worship  and 
the  most  perfect  fulfilment  of  the  demands  of  the 
day.  May  this  celestial  bud  soon  bloom  forth  and 
inaugurate  the  age  when  all  days  shall  be  Lord's 
Days, and  God's  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven. 

"  Blest  day  of  God  most  calm,  most  bright, 

The  first  and  best  of  days  ; 
The  laborer's  rest,  the  saint's  delight, 

The  day  of  prayer  and  praise." 


INDEX. 


A. 

Accadian,  6, 145 
Africa,  11 

Alphonsus  Petros,  260 
Amusements,  293 
Anatolius,  139 
Aquinas  Thomas,  260 
Arabs,  23,  30 
Ararat,  88 
Archaeology,  6,  27 
Aretius,  10 
Aristides,  137 
Assur-bani-pal,  4 
Assyrians,  4,  51, 115 
Astarte,  204 
Athanasius,  160 

B. 

Babylonians,  6,  20,  51,  54,  55, 

130,148 
Bacon,  60 
Balawat,  51 

Baltimore,  Council  of,  270 
Bardesanes,  139 
Barnabas,  135, 149 
Baseball,  294 
Bechuanas,  41 
Bernard,  St.,  260 
Bicycling,  Sunday,  299 
Boating,  Sunday,  299 
Borneo,  20 
Boscawen,  5 
Bownd,  Nicolas,  268 
Briggs,  60 


Brinton,  205 
Buddhists,  35,  42 
Burmese,  45 


Calends,  32,  43 
Canaanites,  91,  111,  214 
Captivity,  63,  65,  100,  105 
Cars,  Sunday,  300 
Celtic,  39 
Chaldean,  14 
Chemosh,  82 
China,  9,  28,  30 
Circumcision,  52,  120,  187 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  139 
Code,  Priestly,  107, 117 
Congoese,  23 
Constitutions,    Apostolical, 

250 
Constantine,  145, 146,  251,  255 
Cornill.  55 
Cort,  34 
Cranmer,  266 
Crees,  20 
Creichton,  30 
Cuneiform,  4 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  151 

D. 

Decalogue,  165, 194, 198 
Dedication,  Feast  of,  216 
Deuteronomic,  61 
Diagrams,  9 
Diocletian,  145 


138, 


356 


Index. 


357 


Dionysius,  138 
Driver,  60      • 
Druids,  38 
Dunham,  271 

E. 

Ebionites,  250 

Egyptian,  7,  8,  27,  112 

Elohim,  58 

Elvira,  146 

Elul,  4 

Epiphanes,  Antiochus,  93 

Eusebius,  141 

Exile,  94,  99,  103,  104,  107,  111,  114 

Ezekiel,  53,  62,  80,  97,  116 

Ezra,  107 


Fuh-he,  9 

Fathers,  Ante-Nicene, 

Fishing,  Sunday,  299 

G. 

Galen,  90 
Gallenius,  145 
Garcilasso,  34 
Gideon, 92 
Golf,  Sunday,  296 
Goodwin,  8 
Gordon,  84 
Greeks,  10,  32,  33 

H. 

Hadley,  11 
Harley,  38 
Harranians,  33 
Hawaiians,  38 
Hebrews,  47 
Hesiod,  33 
Hessey,  150 
Hezekiah,  93 
Hilprecht,  7 
Hosea,  64 
Hunting,  Sunday,  299 


Ides,  31,  43 
Idolatry,  93,  95 


134 


Ignatius,  135 
India,  10 

Irenaeus,  138,  149 
Istar, 5 

J. 

Jastrow,  102,  109,  115 

Javanese,  42 

Jehoash,  113 

Jeremiah,  93,  94 

Jerusalem,  Council,  179 

Jews,  324 

Josephus,  10 

Josiah,  93 

Jupiter,  148 

Justin  Martyr,  137,  149,  223 


K. 


Keary,  6 
Koran,  195 
Kuenen,  60 


Lamaism,  39 

Laos,  11 

Leo  Philosophus,  259 

Lord's  Day,  nature  of,  221 

authority,  235 

development,  245 

ideal,  335 

relation  to  Sabbath,  143 
Luther,  Martin,  264 
Lyons,  Synod  of,  261 

M. 
Macon,  258 
Madgascar,  23,  41 
Mails,  Sunday,  291 
Manasseh,  93 
Mars,  148 
Mendis,  41 
Mercury,  148 
Merodach,  4,  5 
Mexicans,  42 
Micah,  92 
Melito  138 
Mohammed,  11 


358 


Index, 


Moon,  full,  19,  24,  29,  32,  41,  42, 
97,  102 
new,  19,  25,  29,  32,  41,  95, 102 
Moon-worship,  17,  3X,  102 
Montefiore,  107, 108 
Miiller,  Max,  82 
Mumford,  Stephen,  291 

N. 
Nebuchadrezzar,  80 
Newspaper,  Sunday,  277 
Nice,  Council,  224,  227,  253 
Nineveh,  4,  6,  27 
Nones,  31,  43 


Oahspe,  36 

Olivet,  88 

Orleans,  Council  of,  225,  257 

Origen,  140 

Osiris,  214 

P. 

Passover,  97, 103, 120, 140 
Papago,  20 
Peet,  34 
Pegu,  11 
Pentateuch,  57 
Pentecost,  97,  103,  132, 140 
Peruvians,  12,  34 
Peter  of  Alexandria,  141 
Petrie,  6 
Philo,  12 

Phoenicians,  10,  30,  204 
Picnic,  Sunday,  297 
Pliny,  136 
Polychrome,  59 
Pompey,  118 
Porphyry,  10 
Preston,  271 
Proctor,  24,  120 
Purim,  216 


Railroading,  Sunday,  286 
Bass  am,  51 
Kagozin,  6 


Records,  7,  25 
Renan,  214 

Resurrection,  125, 127, 140 
Riding,  Sunday,  299 
Romans,  10 


Sabaeans,  29 

Sabattum,  115 

Sabbath,  Heathen,  traces  of,  3 

origin,  13 

nature  of,  40 
Jewish,  origin  of,  57 

nature  of.  111 

duration  of,  120 

relation  to  Lord's  Day,  143 

Christ's  attitude  to,  155 

abolished,  167 
Sargon, 6 

Saturdarian,  87,  317 
Saturn,  8,  31,  147, 148 
Senegambia,  41 
Serpent,  90 
Shunamite,  100 
Siam,  242 
Slavonians,  11 
Smyth,  205 
Sofalese,  11 
Solon,  10 
Spiers,  128 
Suhusius,  10 


Talmud,  88, 113 
Tertullian,  139 
Theatre,  Sunday, ; 
Theodosius,  256 
Thessalonica,  131 
Tirin,  101 
Toledo,  256 
Tonquinese,  42 
Toy,  102,  214 
Trajan,  136 
Tribes,  ten,  92 


Ur.BO 


Index, 


359 


Valens,  255 
Valentinian,  255 
Yedism,  101 
Venus,  148 
Victorinus,  140,  149 


W. 


Week,  13 
Whateley,  199 
Wilson,  29 


Yahweh,  58,  105 
Yao,  9 

Z. 

Zarpanit,  4 

Zend  Avesta,  195 
Zoroastrianism,  101 


Date  Due 

/^  . 

iiinii7i 

^ 

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